Bovis admits £15m loss on BBC and Leeds projects

Bovis Lend Lease's major projects at BBC Broadcasting House and Bridgewater Place in Leeds have lost the firm almost £15m, it has revealed.

The company said it had hit trouble on its construction project to build the Bridgewater Place scheme in Leeds for joint clients Landmark Developments and St James Properties, and its BBC Broadcasting House scheme in London.

It said: "The result to December 2005 was impacted by the A$37m (£15m) after tax provisions against BBC Broadcasting House and Bridgwater Place, Leeds. The causes for the provisions were different for each project and included subcontractor failure, extreme weather delays in Leeds and inadequate programme management. The company is satisfied that the provisions are adequate and has taken remedial action to address the programme management issues."

Lend Lease Corporation posted a profit after tax of A$176.6m for the six months to 31 December 2005, up from A$140.7m at December 2004 as restated under AIFRS.

The lift in reported profit was due to the absence of one-off costs associated with Group restructuring and a merger proposal that were a feature of the December 2004 result.

Lend Lease Group Managing Director and CEO, Greg Clarke, said: "While we are pleased with progress on our strategy and to report the increase in bottom line profit after tax, we are disappointed that the provisions against the UK construction projects held back what would have been an otherwise very strong operating result.