Construction company Basil Read is heading for a loss in its fullyear results if the group's latest trading statement is to be believed, Imara SP Reid analyst Steve Meintjes said yesterday.

A full-year loss would follow an almost 30% decline in revenue for the half-year to June, from R294,6m to R207,3m. Contract profit plunged from R12,6m to a R37,5m loss. Net profit of R3,4m fell to a R47,8m loss.

Basil Read has gone through an awkward period.

CEO Albert Bernardo resigned in October, and the company has also experienced problems with roadbuilding contracts in Namibia.

The construction company is now disposing of its operation in Namibia to its parent company, French construction group Bouygues Travaux Publics.

Talks to bring in an empowerment consortium led by former Basil Read employee Mervyn Chavda, former MP Mohseen Moosa and soccer kingpin Jomo Sono, also fell through.

Basil Read warned in a trading statement last week that earnings may fall by as much as 210% for the year to end-December.

Meintjes said that, based on the headline earnings a share of 18,1c it made last year, the group would incur a loss of 18c a share.

He pointed out, however, that the group improved its performance in the second half of the year as it incurred a headline loss of 91,7c a share in the first six months, implying a turnaround of 73,7c in the second half.

News that Basil Read's trading position had not deteriorated meant that the contract loss of R37,6m in the first half of the year was either not exceeded in the second half, or more probably, broke even, Meintjes said.

He said that if the company did break even, this would most likely be due to it having received payment for some of the R41m owed to it for foreign operations.

Investors should not expect a repeat of this payout, and they would have to "fall back on the various indicators of recovery" given at the interim stage, he said.

Basil Read said its order book increased from R184m to R624m when it released its results for the first half of the year.

Orders were boosted by a threeyear contract to develop the Eastplat platinum mine.

The group also secured road contracts in Limpopo and North West . Basil Read's open-cast mining division has started a three-year contract to develop a mine for Gallery Gold in Botswana .

While these indications were positive, they did not negate the R62,2m in accumulated losses at the interim stage. Meintjes said this left Basil Read's net asset value at 0,24c a share, which meant its payout of 80c a share in dividends for the 12 months to December last year came at the expense of its lenders.

Basil Read closed 2c higher at 97c, with 4000 shares traded in one deal on the JSE Securities Exchange SA yesterday.