By Federico Maccioni and Alberto Chiumento

March 16 (Reuters) – Italy’s largest construction
company Webuild surprised markets on Thursday by
indicating its core profit would almost double in 2025, after
growing as much as 30% this year.

Under a new three-year plan unveiled on Thursday, Webuild
said it had already won 53.4 billion euros worth of orders,
which covers 95% of its expected revenues and profit targets for
the 2023-2025 period.

Shares in Webuild closed up 12% after the plan with traders
noting that the 2023 core profit goal of 720 million euros to
760 million euros was well above a market consensus of 580
million euros.

The group guided for a 2025 core profit range of 990 million
euros to 1.05 billion euros.

Webuild, which forecast a 57-billion-euro backlog by the end
of 2025, also highlighted the commercial impact of massive
infrastructure projects in its markets of Italy, the U.S. and
Australia, where it recently acquired the assets of rival
Clough.

Clough’s acquisition is “highly strategic” and stands as a
cornerstone to expand Webuild’s footprint in a “huge” market,
General Manager Corporate and Finance Massimo Ferrari told
Reuters.

The Australian firm is also one of few companies in the
country that could play a role in Canberra’s increase in defense
spending, CEO Pietro Salini told analysts during a post-results
call.

The plan, which foresees a turnover of 10.5 billion euros to
11 billion euros in 2025, does not include the potential boost
that could come from mega projects such as Texas’ high-speed
railway and Italy’s Messina Bridge, as well as operating cost
cuts stemming from reorganizing subsidiaries.

“We still believe the Messina Bridge project is doable and
that it would bring tremendous added value,” Ferrari said.

Italy’s cabinet ministers on Thursday approved reviving the
company tasked with designing and building the controversial
bridge that would connect Sicily to the mainland.

Webuild, which said it did not have any exposure to Silicon
Valley Bank or Credit Suisse, plans to distribute
between 160 million euros to 170 million euros in dividends
under the plan.
($1 = 0.9430 euros)
(Reporting by Federico Maccioni and Alberto Chiumento, editing
by Gianluca Semeraro, Valentina Za and Josie Kao)