South Africa's Aveng sees lower earnings as strike bites

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South African construction firm Aveng said on Wednesday full-year earnings fell by as much as 10 percent, hit by weak demand from the strike-battered mining industry, and its shares dropped more than 4 percent. Aveng, which builds roads, football stadiums and mining shafts, is the latest company in Africa's most developed economy to feel the impact of a debilitating five-month stoppage in the platinum industry that ended last week. The firm is also likely to take a further hit after more than 220,000 engineering and metal workers launched a wage strike this week, a dispute that is expected to cost the economy more than $28 million a day. Aveng, South Africa's second-largest builder by market value, said in a statement headline earnings per share for the year to end-June fell by as much as 10 percent. Headline earnings, the main profit measure in South Africa, excludes certain one-time items. Including one-time items, Aveng said its earnings fell to a full-year loss due to an accounting write-down. Shares in the builder fell more than 4 percent, to 22.51 rand as of 1444 GMT.