The Italian contractor Itinera, which is building several large construction projects in Denmark, ended 2024 with a financial statement where the challenges on the Storstrøm Bridge significantly dragged down the bottom line. The project resulted in losses of around 727 million kroner (converted from 97.6 million euros) solely on operations, and overall write-downs are now up to approximately 1.1 billion kroner.
Delays, weather conditions, and redesigns have extended the work and increased quantities, and the result is that Itinera has not yet been able to make a profit on the Danish contract. Instead, the company has had to obtain liquidity through special advance agreements with the Danish Road Directorate, where a total of over 700 million kroner has been paid out until mid-2024.
At the group level, revenue in 2024 rose to nearly 15.6 billion kroner compared to 13.1 billion kroner the previous year. Nevertheless, the net result fell significantly - from 214 million kroner in 2023 to just 11.9 million kroner in 2024. The Storstrøm Bridge is explicitly mentioned as the main reason for the poor result.
Large public construction projects
In recent years, Itinera has made a significant mark in Denmark. In addition to the Storstrøm Bridge, the company is also responsible for the construction of the new university hospitals in Køge and Odense, making the Italians one of the largest foreign contractors on public construction projects.
At the same time, Itinera has repeatedly been in the spotlight for issues on Danish construction sites - both on the Storstrøm Bridge and on hospital constructions - where trade unions have criticised working conditions and authorities have raised cases of social dumping.
On the Storstrøm Bridge, the work is carried out in the consortium SBJV (Storstrøm Bridge Joint Venture), where Itinera owns 99.99 percent. The project is now almost 91.5 percent complete, and the last bridge girder was put in place in December 2024. Nevertheless, the schedule has been exceeded, as the bridge, according to Itinera's latest accounts, should have been ready by 30 June this year.
The Storstrøm Bridge is to connect Zealand, Falster, and Lolland with a new road and rail link and constitutes a central part of the infrastructure towards the Femern tunnel.
