Construction and energy biggie Leighton Holdings Ltd has reported on Monday that company net profit jumped by 82 percent as it listed an after tax earnings of $400.3 million in the past nine months ending in March 31 this year and subsequently reaffirmed its full year earnings guidance.

Leighton said that its currently reported net is an improvement from the $220 million it netted in 2009 even as the company's total revenue plunged by 2.7 percent to $13.3 billion, a result described by chief executive Wal King as strong and showing solid turnovers in mining and infrastructure and lulling the difficulties seen in the property market, most specifically in Dubai.

He said that Leighton's diversification strategy has sustained the company through the global financial crisis, stressing that the company's core market should continue experiencing further growths in the aftermath of the residual effect of the GFC in the Middle East property market.

Mr King said that the company is expecting more than $600 million as net profit after tax for the full year 2009/10 and would not be surprised if Leighton's full year revenue should reach about $18.5 billion, as he noted that the "final results for 2009/10 and dividend payments are, of course, subject to market conditions."

He recalled that Leighton netted $440 million in 2008/09 with backdrop revenue of $18.3 billion as he revealed that the company's work in hand by March 31 is pegged at $37.5 billion, which is an improvement from the $6.5 billion posted on the same period last year.

Mr King added that the company has been securing contracts, and from March this year, "an additional $1.8 billion of work has been won and the group is in a preferred position on over $6 billion of projects which should be awarded in the next few months."

At the same time, he is upbeat that Leighton's operating companies in Australia will continue growing, thanks to the sustained level of infrastructure spending over the next decade, as he added that "sustained demand from China and the rest of Asia for iron ore and coal should drive increases in export volumes, which bode well for contract mining opportunities."

Mr King is forecasting that demand for energy would be spiking and should afford Leighton "with significant opportunities over the next few years to undertake construction work on a number of Liquefied Natural Gas and Coal Seam Methane projects," warning though that the Dubai problem would haunt the market for some time as the city's conditions were "likely to remain subdued for some time."

As of 1040 AEST, Leighton shares were trading at $33.51, sliding a bit by 3.26 percent or $1.13.