What is a normal operating margin in civil engineering activities?

The median operating margin was 7.5 %, meaning what was left of revenue once every cost had been paid. Half of the 173 companies in the sample were above it, and half below.

What separates the best from the weakest in civil engineering activities?

The top third had an operating margin of 15.5 %, against 0.0 % for the weakest. The spread is 15 percentage points, within the same industry, the same country and the same year.

How many companies are there in civil engineering activities in Norway?

We hold filed accounts for 173 Norwegian companies on this industry code with at least one million kroner in revenue. The real number is higher, since dormant and very small companies are excluded.

How much revenue does a company in Civil engineering activities generate per employee?

The median company in Civil engineering activities turns over NOK 1.8m per employee. The figure is calculated on the 141 of 173 companies that report an employee count.

How many are loss-making in civil engineering activities?

17 % of the companies in the sample posted a negative operating result.

How large is a typical company in civil engineering activities?

Median revenue is NOK 30.7m. Half of the companies fall between NOK 11.8m and NOK 59.5m.

How much do public contracts matter in civil engineering activities?

128 of 173 companies, that is 74.0 %, have won at least one public contract since 2022. They have median revenue of NOK 27.6m, against NOK 35.8m for the rest.

NACE 71.121

Margins and profitability in civil engineering activities

173 Norwegian companies in this industry. The median operating margin was 7.5 %, meaning what was left of revenue once every cost had been paid.

17 % of the companies in this industry posted a negative operating result that year.

In kroner

Revenue and operating profit

Revenue and operating profit
	Median company	Top third
Revenue	NOK 30,748,486	NOK 19,791,365
Operating profit	NOK 1,641,438	NOK 3,373,291
Revenue per employee	NOK 1,817,208	NOK 1,905,458

Revenue per employee is calculated on the 141 of 173 companies that report an employee count, as the median of the ratio within each company.

Median, not mean. A mean would be pulled up by the largest companies in the industry, and would say little about a typical one.

The distribution

What companies in the industry earned

One tenth of companies fell below -4.1 %, and one tenth above 20.6 %. That is the real spread in the industry, not an average.

Top against weakest third

Top third: 15.5 %
Weakest third: 0.0 %
Spread: 15 percentage points
Equity ratio: 30.2 %median of 173

Size

Profitability by size

Profitability by size
Revenue	Companies	Median operating margin
1 to 5 m	20	4.6 %
5 to 20 m	41	12.8 %
20 to 100 m	84	7.9 %
over 100 m	28	5.5 %

Companies are split into revenue bands, with the median margin in each. Bands with fewer than ten companies are omitted, because the median becomes too unstable to show.

Geography

Where the companies are based

Where the companies are based
Oslo		38
Sandnes		5
Trondheim		5
Skien		5
Fredrikstad		3
Bergen		3

The six postal towns with the most companies in this industry, by registered business address.

Public contracts

Who in the industry wins public contracts

128 of 173 companies in the industry have won at least one public contract since 2022, that is 74.0 %.

Those that win have median revenue of NOK 27.6m, against NOK 35.8m for those that do not. That is 0.8× as much. It describes who wins, not evidence that contracts make companies large; large companies also find it easier to bid.

Who puts them out to tender

The 1,727 contracts we find come most often from these buyers.

Who puts them out to tender
Statsbygg		103
Øvre Romerike Innkjøpssamarbeid		87
Statens vegvesen		64
Bane NOR SF		63
Rogaland fylkeskommune		58

Contracts come from Doffin and TED. Our collection is not complete, and TED covers only contracts above the EEA threshold, so the figures are a floor and not a full count. We say what we find, not what exists.

Questions and answers

Common questions about civil engineering activities

What is a normal operating margin in civil engineering activities?: The median operating margin was 7.5 %, meaning what was left of revenue once every cost had been paid. Half of the 173 companies in the sample were above it, and half below.
What separates the best from the weakest in civil engineering activities?: The top third had an operating margin of 15.5 %, against 0.0 % for the weakest. The spread is 15 percentage points, within the same industry, the same country and the same year.
How many companies are there in civil engineering activities in Norway?: We hold filed accounts for 173 Norwegian companies on this industry code with at least one million kroner in revenue. The real number is higher, since dormant and very small companies are excluded.
How much revenue does a company in Civil engineering activities generate per employee?: The median company in Civil engineering activities turns over NOK 1.8m per employee. The figure is calculated on the 141 of 173 companies that report an employee count.
How many are loss-making in civil engineering activities?: 17 % of the companies in the sample posted a negative operating result.
How large is a typical company in civil engineering activities?: Median revenue is NOK 30.7m. Half of the companies fall between NOK 11.8m and NOK 59.5m.
How much do public contracts matter in civil engineering activities?: 128 of 173 companies, that is 74.0 %, have won at least one public contract since 2022. They have median revenue of NOK 27.6m, against NOK 35.8m for the rest.

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