South African construction giant going from zero to hero

Stefanutti Stocks is undergoing a restructuring plan to aid the company’s turnaround following years of decline.

Stefanutti Stocks is a construction group that delivers infrastructure development projects to sectors across the built environment in South Africa and neighbouring regions.

It is based in South Africa and has established cross-border operations in Malawi, Mauritius, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Eswatini, Mozambique, and Zambia.

The company specialises in various construction activities, including building, civils, renewable, geotechnical, roads, and earthworks.

It also has strong expertise in electrical and instrumentation, mechanical, data-centre construction, oil and gas, and mining services.

Between 2020 and 2024, the company experienced significant challenges, partly due to a 2008 Eskom tender to work on the Kusile Power Poject, which is now in the process of being settled. During this time, the company also became technically insolvent.

To address this, the company embarked on a restructuring plan, and it started to reap the rewards of this plan in its 2025 financial year, when Stefanutti reported an over 700% increase in profit.

This positive momentum continued into the first half of its 2026 financial year, with the group releasing its interim results for the six months through August 2025 on Monday, 25 November.

These results showed that Stefanutti’s contract revenue from continuing operations increased by around 1% to R3.66 billion.

The company made an operating profit before finance costs of R170.92 million, up 8.4% compared to the first half of its 2025 financial year.

Stefanutti reported a profit of R77.25 million for the six-month period, reflecting a 52.67% increase.

The construction company’s earnings from continuing operations increased to 46.19 cents per share, up 52.69%.

In a presentation held after the release of these interim results, CEO Russell Crawford said the company is well-positioned to benefit from a return to a normalised operating environment.

He identified several sectors that present opportunities for Stefanutti, including water, mining infrastructure, marine infrastructure, renewable energy, road infrastructure, and data centres. 

Restructuring and settlements

In its interim results, Stefanutti also provided shareholders with an update on its restructuring plan and its dispute with Eskom over the Kusile Power Project.

In February 2025, the company’s lenders extended the capital repayment profile and duration of a current loan.

Following this, the company concluded a new five-year facility agreement amounting to R850 million with Standard Bank.

The current loan was settled in October 2025, which terminated Stefanutti’s historic arrangement with its lenders and the restructuring plan.

Stefanutti said the five-year facility will be repaid in 19 equal quarterly instalments starting in February 2026 and continuing until final maturity by August 2030, with an interest-only payment due in November 2025.

The company said it would use part of the funds from its contractual claims from Eskom and disposal proceeds to make capital prepayments against the facility.

On the Eskom matter, Stefanutti said that, on 24 November, the company and Eskom signed a full and final settlement agreement for an amount of R580 million.

This constitutes a mutual release of any and all actual or potential claims, disputes, or entitlements either party may have against the other arising or in connection with the Kusile Power Project contract. 

In terms of the Settlement Agreement, Eskom must pay the total amount by 12 December 2025.

Stefanutti said it would use around 80% of this R580 million settlement to repay its facility with Standard Bank.