AMEC Plc

A Corporate Profile

By Corporate Watch UK
Completed May 2002

---

Products & Projects

AMEC plc started off as a construction and engineering company. The company's interests gradually expanded and now involve civil, railway, road, airport, and power engineering, building and building services and maintenance, asset management, feasibility studies and environmental consulting.

Market segmentation[xxiv]:

Energy 25%
Transport 20%
Infrastructure 15%
Process and manufacturing 10%
Environmental 5%
Public sector, other 25%

The company operates through three sections: Capital Projects (Construction Management & Construction), Investments (Property Development & Public Private Partnerships), and Client Support Services (Consulting and Design & Operations Support). In 2000, Capital Projects accounted for 41%, Investments for 11% and Client Support Services for 48% of AMEC's total operating profit (equalling £154.7 million).[xxv]

Capital Projects

AMEC's Capital Projects division specializes in construction and construction management in the following market sectors:

• Commercial - focused on offices and business parks as well as buildings for manufacturing, retail and leisure;
• Consumer and Industrial products - including units for the production of food & beverages, cement, cosmetics & toiletries, automotive, electrical goods as well as storage warehouses;
• Energy - the Energy Division has facilities for oil and gas extraction and refining and the production of energy from nuclear, thermal, hydro-electric and renewable sources;
• Forestry - focused on the construction of mills for pulp & paper products;
• Transportation - focused on the planning, construction, inspection and maintenance of highways, bridges, tunnels, railways and airports;
• Mining - AMEC's Mining Division is involved in the construction of facilities for mining copper, gold, silver, lead, zinc, nickel, cobalt and platinum group metals.
• PharmaChem - PharmaChem is the Group's arm involved in the building of laboratories for pharmaceutical, biotechnology and fine chemical industries;
• Public - AMEC's Public division is dedicated to the construction of waste disposal facilities, conference centres, hospitals, accommodation, prisons, roads and other infrastructure;
• Utilities and Telecoms - The Utilities and Telecoms division offer continuous support services ranging from asset amelioration programmes and infrastructure investment programmes as well as data management and the outsourcing of asset operation and maintenance[xxvi]

A few examples:

• Yusefeli Dam, Turkey (see Corporate Crimes)
• Dam on Belize's Macal River, subcontracted by Fortis (see Corporate Crimes)
• Reconstruction at both the Pentagon and World Trade Centre sites
• Pulp and Paper mills in Indonesia (see Corporate Crimes)
• Major new International Arrivals Terminal at JFK Airport in New York
• Major petrochemical plants completed for Sinopec in China (see crime section) and BP in Grangemouth, UK
• Shearwater oil and gas facility completed for Shell in the North Sea
• Completed assignments include the Hong Kong International Airport and the UK's largest cold store distribution centre in Birmingham, UK[xxvii]

Investments
AMEC's investment division consists mainly of its public-private partnerships and regeneration schemes in areas such as defence, education, hospitals, accommodation, prisons, roads and other infrastructure. The UK government offered AMEC numerous PFI (Private Finance Initiative) contracts (see 'links with governments' and 'corporate crimes' sections).
A few examples:

• Building and design of Manchester Airport 2nd Runway, UK
• Birmingham Northern Relief Road (BNRR) - AMEC is part of the consortium that is building the road (see Corporate Crimes section)
• Involvement in a re-housing project at DSS (UK Department of Social Security) Newcastle Estate, Newcastle; the first major UK accommodation based PFI project involving a significant element of new build[xxviii]
• AMEC has won the contract to design, build, finance and operate a major 30-year life maintenance scheme for the UK Highways Agency
• Jubilee Line Extension Nº 102, Green Park to Waterloo (the London Underground), UK
• Completed Cumberland Infirmary in Carlisle - the first major PFI district general hospital to be opened in the UK
• Secured private finance contracts in consortia for the £200 million A13 in East London and a £94 million sewage treatment project in Ayrshire, Scotland

Client Support Services
AMEC supports clients in a wide rage of industries (defence, transport, forestry, energy, public utilities, telecom, mining, pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, etc) with a wide range of services such as design, feasibility studies, environmental impact assessments, concept development, operational support services, and risk analyses & management.

A few examples:

• Design, procurement, fabrication, commission and maintenance of the Shell Shearwater facility in the UK Continental Shelf
• Provision of operational support for Malampaya, the most significant offshore energy project ever undertaken in the Philippines. Contract awarded by Shell Philippines Exploration (SPEX)[xxix]
• Feasibility studies for De Beers on a new Canadian diamond mine
• Blyth Offshore Wind Farm, UK (AMEC provided development expertise, sourced funding and proudly claimed to be 'the seed that formed the consortium to build the first offshore wind farm in UK waters')
• Environmental services in North America for long term clients including Exxon, Noranda, BASF, Wayerhauser, Ford and the US Airforce
• Long term pharmaceutical service contracts for Aventis, Novartis, Eli Lily and BASF (2000)
• 'Evergreen' contract for BP at its UK Coryton Refinery in Essex, UK
• Shutdown and maintenance activity for repeat clients Du Pont, BP Amoco, Huntsman and Union Carbide in the UK

Find out more about AMEC's services, categorized by:
Capability: http://www.amec.com/ourservices/level2servicesbycapability.asp
Market sector: http://www.amec.com/ourservices/level2services.asp?pageid=86
And Geography: http://www.amec.com/ourservices/level2servicesbygeography.asp

Partnerships

On big projects, AMEC often works with other construction/civil engineering companies, forming so-called consortia. Substantial co-operation with the UK government takes place through the Private Finance Initiatives. Government support for AMEC through development aid can also be considered a partnership, with both parties gaining from business opportunities in the Third World.

B2B Virtual Marketplace
AMEC, Bovis Lend Lease, Hochtief and Turner, and Skanska announced a new global business-to-business venture. The virtual marketplace is said to be 'neutral, open to the entire industry, and the first of its kind in the construction industry'.
Read more at: http://www.amec.com/news/MediaRelease.asp?MEDIAID=161

Clients
AMEC's clients include Shell, BP Amoco, Union Carbide, De Beers, DuPont, Novartis, GlaxoSmithKline, AstraZeneca, Huntsman, Exxon, BASF, Noranda, Wayerhauser, Ford, the US Airforce, UK Ministry of Defence (MoD), Hewlett Packard, Eli Lily, Aventis, BAA, General Electric, General Mills, Agrium, the BBC, BT, and various governmental bodies (see links with government section), both in the UK and abroad.
On the AMEC website you can find links 'to obtain further information about various industries (such as airports, capital projects, oil, gas & power, Pharmachem, railways, and utilities) the company serves'.
See: http://www.amec.com/investis/level2investors.asp?pageid=259

---

References
[xxiv] AMEC Annual Report and Accounts 2001, page 9
[xxv] AMEC Plc Annual Report and Accounts 2001, page 5
[xxvi] www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~djw02/Assets/Amec_PLC/amec_plc.html (AMEC profile, source: MIDAS Investment Club, date viewed: 12.02.02)
[xxvii] www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~djw02/Assets/Amec_PLC/amec_plc.html (AMEC profile, source: MIDAS Investment Club, date viewed: 12.02.02)
[xxviii] www.amec.com/ourservices/level3services.asp?pageid=14 (AMEC's Projects and Experience, source: AMEC, date viewed: 12.12.02)
[xxix] www.amec.com/ourservices/level3services.asp?pageid=9 (AMEC's Projects and Experience, source: AMEC, date viewed: 12.12.02)