Strongest growth year ever- United Group

Engineering firm United Group expects its strongest year yet of organic growth in fiscal 2009 as it acknowledged the credit crunch made it tough to execute acquisitions.

United chief executive Richard Leupen said there was no sign of either the global resources boom or the infrastructure boom in Australian and Asia slowing.

"United in 2009, we're anticipating our strongest growth year ever," he told an American Chamber of Commerce lunch in Sydney.

United, which provides services to the resources sector, builds trains and water infrastructure and provides property management services, in February forecast underlying profit to rise 20 per cent in fiscal 2008.

"The company's bigger, and if it grows at similar rates it grows faster in dollars," Mr Leupen explained to journalists after Thursday's lunch.

"What we've seen is a very strong economy with a lot of opportunity.

"It's too early to start putting out projections for us ... but I know it will be a very strong organic growth year, and it will be the best organic growth year we've had."

Around 80 to 90 per cent of United's annual revenue had already been booked by July 1, up from the usual 70 to 80 per cent, Mr Leupen said.

"So we're well advanced in terms of having locked away our 2009 trading year," he said.

The modernisation of China and India was continuing to fuel demand for Australian commodities and years of under-investment in local infrastructure meant Australian federal and state governments were rushing to unblock infrastructure bottlenecks, Mr Leupen said.

He acknowledged that the global credit crunch, global warming, and a rising oil price presented potential threats to United's growth.

"I'm not suggesting that it can't be slowed because obviously it can be slowed," he told the lunch.

"But we're not seeing that at this point."

Mr Leupen said tighter credit markets and falling equities markets made it tougher to fund deals, noting that United's market valuation was currently at a decade low of around 12 to 13 times earnings.

"We'd still do the right acquisition if we could, but we just haven't got one right now.

"And we're happy we're we sit ... I like United sitting right where it is.

"It would take a fair bit to move us from that."

Mr Leupen said United's acquisition of US property services company Unicco just under a year ago meant that, in a strategic sense, it had "a hole in Europe".

"We are still keen to find a way to deliver our property services in the European market, whether it's in a joint venture, an alliance partnership, a large holder position, or buy a company - we're looking at all those options," he said.

At 1543 AEST, United shares were 17 cents lower at $12.44 in a broadly negative market.