Trouble in the Middle East and Latin America have hurt profits at Dutch consultant Arcadis, who said pre-tax profit slumped 9% from €55m last year to €50m in the six months to the end of June.
The global firm said problems in Brazil and less work in Middle Eastern markets helped send both profit and revenue down in the first half of this year.
It added that revenue was off 2% to €1.65bn, down from the €1.68bn it posted for the same period in 2016.
New chief executive Peter Oosterveer, who took over in April, said clients have been delaying schemes in Latin America, while the company suffered an €11m loss in Brazil.
Work had also fallen away in Qatar and Saudi Arabia. The Gulf region is currently gripped by a diplomatic crisis.
Oosterveer admitted that "we remain cautious about market developments in Brazil and in the Middle East".
Revenue for Europe and the Middle East, which makes up 45% of the firm’s business, fell by 5.5% from €725m to €685m, mainly as a result of the falling workloads in Qatar and Saudi Arabia.
Overall, Arcadis said revenues in its Asian, Latin American and Middle Eastern operations declined as did the revenue from its design business CallisonRKTL.
The Americas make up 31% of revenue for the consultant and the firm said increased revenue in the US, driven by its environment and infrastructure operations, was offset by the falls in Latin America meaning overall turnover for the Americas fell 1% to €599m.
There was better news for Arcadis in the UK, where the firm is working on new stadia for Premier League clubs Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur.
Arcadis said its turnover here had climbed 5% thanks to increased work in the commercial and automotive sectors.
Growing infrastructure work also boosted UK sales.
Image: Doha, Qatar, centre of the Gulf’s current diplomatic crisis (Jimmy Baikovicius/CC 2.0)
