From our core markets of Austria and Germany, we are present via our numerous subsidiaries in all countries of Eastern and South-East Europe, in selected markets in Western Europe and increasingly on other continents. We generate about 74 % of our output volume in markets in which we hold one of the top three positions, including Austria, Germany, Hungary, Slovakia, Poland and Romania. This broad geographical spread guarantees us an effective risk diversification. In the event that one market crashes completely, we are still active in the other markets to compensate for this loss. We possess sufficient scale in nearly all markets – with the exception of those countries in which we engage in direct export – in order to compete for tenders involving large projects. The management of the national divisions comes mainly from the same country. This guarantees that the management is very familiar with the local market.


§ Operational structure with central units

Under the roof of the parent company STRABAG SE, a number of legally independent subsidiaries are active in their respective national markets. The top level of organisation is the segment, each of which is headed by two management board members, one with technical and another with commercial responsibilities. This “four-eyes” principle applies not only at the management board level, but at all management levels, and the dual management structure is an important aspect of internal control and risk management.


§ Stable shareholder structure

STRABAG shares are split among four core shareholders. These are Haselsteiner Group, Raiffeisen Group, Uniqa Group and Rasperia Trading. All together, they hold 77% of the STRABAG shares. The remaining 23% are free float and they are by investors in continental Europe, in the UK and Ireland, by US investors and Austrian institutional investors. This stable shareholder structure combines the best of both worlds: the years-long cooperation of the management and the investors in the boards allows STRABAG to implement strategic decisions quickly.

§ Strong financial basis

In comparison to the competition, STRABAG possesses a very satisfactory financial basis. The equity ratio stands at 31.1 %. We see the equity ratio as a suitable figure with which to measure STRABAG’s financial stability and strength. Only financially strong companies can participate in PPP projects as the construction companies must finance such projects themselves with a part of their equity. We are continuing to focus on cost efficiency, disciplined employment of capital, and strict risk management. The ratings agency Standard & Poor’s (S&P) currently gives us an investment-grade rating of BBB- with stable outlook.


§ Dense raw material network

The access to resources offers us a significant competitive advantage, as the approval for new production facilities is granted only to a limited extent in those regions in which such facilities already exist. Our supply of resources from within the group also helps us to reduce our dependency on external suppliers, allowing us to better plan our raw materials access. We possess an extensive resource network that is especially dense in our home markets and several of our growth markets. Our network includes asphalt mixing facilities, concrete mixing facilities, stone and gravel quarries, and cement plants.


§ Expanding geographically

Especially in economically difficult times, it is important not to depend on just a few specific markets. For this reason, we are increasingly active in projects outside of Europe in which a high degree of technological knowhow is required – in India, Canada and the Middle East, for example. Despite the international scope of our activities, we see ourselves as a European construction company. Europe is where we have our roots and where our core countries lie. We are only active on international, i.e. non-European, markets as part of the direct export business.


§ Public-Private-Partnerships

We have worked successfully with operator models for two decades. In the areas of building construction and infrastructure, the portfolio comprises 33 projects with an adjusted total investment volume of almost € 8.94 billion (2009: € 7.97 billion). In the 2010 financial year, we were awarded four new projects with an investment volume of € 1.10 billion. Capital appropriations of € 17.06 million in the form of equity capital and shareholder loans were made available for these projects. In total, we invested a proportionate share of equity in the amount of € 375.08 million in concession projects at the end of 2010 and had committed a further € 43.82 million for a total of € 418.90 million.


§ Intensifying the activities in niche markets

Recent years have highlighted the importance not just of geographic, but also of product-oriented diversification in the building and construction trade. STRABAG is not only active in the fields of building construction, civil engineering, road construction and tunnelling, but is also intensifying its activities in niche sectors such as railway construction, environmental technology and waterway construction. We offer our clients not just planning, construction and the necessary technology; they also profit from the years of experience and knowhow of our employees, from the use of state-of-the-art equipment and machinery, and from STRABAG ’s own technologies and patents. These special technologies make us more independent of the price pressure in the construction sector.


§ Extending the value chain

We see ourselves as a provider of the entire range of construction services. If everything from the planning to the construction to the operation of the building comes from a single source, this reduces redundancies and simplifies the process for our clients. With this in mind, we have extended our value chain in the past few years through the addition of two new business fields. On the one hand, we engage in property and facility management through our subsidiary STRABAG Property and Facility Services (STRABAG PFS). On the other hand, through our subsidiary EFKON we became a global leader in the field of Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS ), Electronic Toll Collection (ETC), payment applications in combination with a multiapplication-enabled central clearing house, and vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-roadside communication.


We are continuing to focus on cost efficiency, disciplined employment of capital and strict risk management.

Please find the details concerning our growth drivers in our Annual Report 2010.