AUSENCO REPORTS SOLID FIRST QUARTER

AUSENCO Limited (ASX:AAX) has signalled a strong start to 2015 after securing $177 million in additional revenue from new and extended contracts in the first quarter.

The revenue pipeline has contributed to the engineering and construction firm's preferred contractor and current work-on-hand balance of $147 million, up $42 million since February 2015.

The company was recently awarded a major international contract to provide engineering for a copper mine in Chile for 22 months. It follows the Encuentro Oxides copper contract with Minera Centinela.

Ausenco CEO Zimi Meka (pictured) says the group's reputation to deliver projects successfully has ensured a positive start to the year.

"Our growth is coming from our diversified, full service offering, our reputation for innovation and the strong relationships we've built with our clients," Meka says.

"Many of our quarter wins are from repeat clients who recognise first-hand our ability to deliver value on every assignment.

"In some cases, we're now providing new solutions to existing or past projects through our full service offering growing our involvement to deliver consulting services, asset optimisation and operations and maintenance solutions.

"Consistent with our previous statements, the bulk of our new project wins and potential client enquiries to date are coming from copper and gold projects in the Americas and asset optimisation opportunities globally."

Newcrest Mining has extended two Ausenco contracts for capital works at the Lihir mine in Papua New Guinea.

Vale has also expanded services provided by Ausenco in Mozambique, to include maintenance support and asset optimisation at the Moatize coal project.

Meka says the company aims to sustain growth for the remainder of the year, after identifying a number of international opportunities.

"We see a number of growth opportunities across several geographies, industries and commodities in 2015 and believe we are in a solid position to capitalise on this growth," he says.