Wembley builders: We'll be ready for Cup final
The Australian construction company behind the new Wembley football stadium today insisted the project would be finished in time for next year’s FA Cup final.
But Multiplex said it would make a £45m (€65.8m) loss on the flagship project after it was hit by a series of delays and extra costs, particularly in relation to the stadium’s eye-catching steel structure.
The projected loss is more than double the £21m (€30.7m) the Roberts family, which founded the firm and still holds a 26% stake in it, had agreed to cover.
As a result Multiplex has had to make a AUS $59m (€35m) pre-tax write-down on the project.
The problems at Wembley have also contributed to the group slashing its profits forecast for 2005 to AUS $170m (€104m) from AUS $235m (€143.6m).
But chief executive Andrew Roberts today said the stadium would “absolutely” be finished in time for the FA Cup final in May next year.
The project had been scheduled to be completed by December this year, however, that has now been put back to March, 2005.
He said: “We have had a range of issues and the project’s date for completion has slipped. There has been a range of costs that relate to that.
“There remains some risk in relation to costs but we have done an extensive internal review involving some of our most senior staff.”
He added that although the stadium was now unlikely to be finished before March next year, they were working towards an earlier completion date of January to begin handing over to Wembley National Stadium Limited to enable it to take control of key operational facilities earlier.
But Mr Roberts insisted the project was not putting the company under any financial stress, adding that it still had AUS $800m (€488.5m) in cash and undrawn credit.
