With 91%, or R2,3 billion, of the order book for the year to February 2008 secured, civil engineering and building construction group Stefanutti & Bressan (“S&B”) is well-placed to deliver on revenue expectations of R2,5 billion. S&B successfully listed this morning on the JSE’s main board opening
strongly above R15, a premium to the R12 a share in the pre-listing private placement. The market capitalisation on listing was R2,3 billion.

Healthy trade had fuelled R42,9 million worth of transactions two hours after listing, in which 2,8 million shares changed hands, with the share price settling at around R15,50.

The market’s appetite for the company saw the pre-listing private placement 21 times oversubscribed. 53,5% of the share capital is held by management with the three executive directors –Stefanutti, CEO Willie Meyburgh and Financial Director Dermot Quinn - holding an interest in S&B worth more than R600 million and executive management collectively holding an interest of more than R250 million. 11,5% of the company remains held by black empowerment partner Mowana Investments. The balance is split across the company’s staff trust, institutional shareholders and the public at large.

Stefanutti says he was humbled by the extent of the market’s interest in the share. He has set the group a target of 22% compound organic growth year-on-year, and is certain the R350 million new capital raised in the
pre-listing private placement will help the group to achieve this. “The bulk of capital raised will be allocated to capital expenditure and working capital,” he says.

“Approximately R100 million of the new capital will be reserved for select acquisitions,” he continues. He adds that the flexibility of listed shares will further enable S&B to capitalise on suitable acquisition opportunities. The
group is specifically targeting the mechanical engineering, electrical and instrumentation and marine works industries and intends to have two acquisitions finalised by December this year.

S&B placed 38,8 million shares at R12 a share (on a forward price:earnings (PE) multiple to February 2008 of 14) totalling R465 million. This included a limited vendor placement of 9,6 million shares accounting for R115
million of the total capital raised.

Some of S&B’s major projects currently underway for the 2008 year include a large contract on the Richards Bay Coal Terminal and construction of the Khangela Bridge contract in Durban. CEO Willie Meyburgh’s optimism stretches further with R0,6 billion already on the books for the 2009 financial year. He says the project pipeline is strong with almost R1 billion worth of contract awards in the offing including multi million rand contracts for a new furnace in Northern Province. This pipeline also reflects S&B’s footprint in Africa – already stamped across Angola, Botswana, Mozambique and Swaziland – with contracts across all construction sectors in the region.
Looking ahead Meyburgh emphasises that S&B is well-positioned to take advantage of the unprecedented sector growth and increasing demand for infrastructure in the transport, energy, commodity and petrochemical
industries. “With public sector infrastructure spend expected to exceed R150 billion in 2010, and private sector spend currently exceeding public sector levels, demand for our services is set to increase further,” says
Meyburgh.

S&B’s turnover is forecast to rise to R2,5 billion in 2008 with net profit forecast to swell to R115,0 million in 2008. Headline earnings per share is anticipated to rise to 83,2 cents at February 2008 from 56,4 cents at February 2007.
S&B’s expertise spans concrete structures and rehabilitation, road and earthworks, piling and geotechnical services, mine residue disposal facilities, opencast contract mining and building. Its spectrum of projects
ranges across industrial and petrochemical plants, cooling towers for power stations, mine infrastructure, dams, roads, bridges, water and effluent treatment plants, township infrastructure and industrial, commercial
and select residential buildings. Active throughout South Africa key clients include Anglo Platinum, the Cities of Johannesburg and Tshwane, Eskom, Impala Platinum, SAPPI and Sasol. Stefanutti is optimistic about the group’s prospects and the investment proposition for investors.

He concludes: “Our 34 year record of consistent profitability, a technically expert management team who are well incentivised and a quality client base, should position S&B to continue capitalising on current buoyant market conditions.”
Ends.
_______________________________________________________________
Issued by: Envisage Communications
Nicole Katz
(011) 325 5944/083 287 2771
On behalf of: Stefanutti & Bressan Limited
Gino Stefanutti, Chairman
(011) 571 4300
AND
Willie Meyburgh, CEO
(011) 571 4300
SHARE CODE: SFB
Issue date: 3 August 2007