Sustainable design, engineering and management consultancy Grontmij has published its latest trading update.

n its first quarter 2010 trading update the company said that as expected, there had been a weak start to 2010– however, there were early signs of forward order improvement. Total revenue was € 185 million, compared to € 208 million in 2009.

A company statement said that while there were early signs of some stabilisation in the Planning & Design and Water & Energy markets, despite considerable project wins, the regulated water market in the UK had remained slow in advance of the start of the new AMP5 asset management cycle.

Commenting on the results, Sylvo Thijsen, CEO Grontmij N.V said:

“The lower production in the first quarter of 2010 was as expected, after market demand weakened as announced in the third quarter of 2009.

Our strategy for 2010 – 2015 and the new introduced business lines structure were well received by our stakeholders and continues to be rolled out in our organisation. Top management to lead the three business lines in all regions have been appointed whereby the cooperation in each business line in Europe is further strengthened.

The actions that we have taken in 2009 and continue to take in 2010 will ensure that we re-position the Group to grow in markets and regions in Europe where demand for our services can be sustained and can be expanded.

The repositioning and the cost reduction programme as announced in the third quarter of 2009 are on schedule. In the second half of 2010 we expect to see the first results. We also had some progress with divestments of non core assets in April (cash in € 7 million).”