Leighton Holdings Ltd (ASX: LEI) today announced a loss after tax of $382m for the nine months to 31 March 2011 from total revenue of $13.8bn. The company said it expects to report a loss after tax of $427 million for the 2010/11 financial year.

Chief Executive, Mr David Stewart, said that whilst the result is extremely disappointing the company is acting decisively to deal with all its issues.

“Having recognised the write-backs and impairments, Leighton is now well positioned to return to more normal growth and earnings in 2011/12 and beyond,” said Mr Stewart.

“Looking forward, the Leighton Group is in solid shape with most of our major markets – particularly Australian infrastructure and resources, and the bulk of Asia – proving very attractive. At the end of March, work in hand stood at a record $46 billion which has a strong level of embedded profitability,” said Mr Stewart.

Since December 2010, the Leighton Group been awarded an additional $4.6bn in new work and currently there are approximately $4bn in contracts where the Group is in a preferred position.

Leighton also has over $7bn worth of projects that are highly likely to be awarded in the next 12 months.

“We expect to return to profitability in 2011/12 and are currently forecasting to report a profit after tax in the range of $600 - $650 million,” said Mr Stewart.

“The outlook for infrastructure spending in Australia remains positive with growth expected in transport and utilities during 2011 and 2012. Spending on transport infrastructure is forecast to grow through to 2012 with particularly large increases expected in rail and ports.

According to Mr Stewart, calendar 2011 is expected to see strong growth in demand for iron ore and coking coal, underpinning prospects for contract mining.

“Thermal coal production in Australia is forecast to rise sharply in 2011, boosted by the completion of new mines, expanded port capacity in NSW and strong increases in demand from China and India,” said.

The company is not paying a final dividend.