Verbrec opens New Zealand water push with NZ$15.1 million Levin contract

New Zealand contract anchors A$22 million water awards

Verbrec Limited (ASX:VBC) has added approximately A$22 million of water and wastewater infrastructure work since the beginning of FY2027, with the largest award taking the engineering group into a more substantial role in New Zealand. The company has been selected as principal contractor for a NZ$15.1 million, or approximately A$12.3 million, design-and-construction project at the Levin Wastewater Treatment Plant in the Horowhenua District.

The lump-sum contract covers new headworks at the plant and is scheduled for completion within about 16 months of award. Verbrec will manage design, procurement, construction management and commissioning, while the scope includes process equipment, grit chambers, a lift-pump wet well, motor-control and generator buildings, pipework, instrumentation, PLCs and communications systems.

Alliance Automation broadens Australian water pipeline

A further A$9.6 million of awards has been secured in Australia by Verbrec and its wholly owned Alliance Automation subsidiary. The projects span South Australia, Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria, and include electrical and control packages, pump-station upgrades, PLC replacements, chlorine monitoring systems and ongoing maintenance of SCADA, telemetry and industrial communications assets.

The Australian work is largely being won through framework agreements, standing panels and established delivery relationships. That recurring-work profile is important to the group’s water strategy, which gained extra reach through the Alliance Automation acquisition, previously described as expanding Verbrec’s capabilities and customer relationships with major water utilities.

Revenue guidance holds as projects extend into FY2028

Verbrec said its work in hand for the balance of FY2027 is in line with management expectations and consistent with the FY2027 revenue guidance provided to the ASX in July. The newly disclosed projects will run through the rest of the financial year and into FY2028, giving the announcement a longer delivery window than a single-period contract tally suggests.

The company says water-sector revenue rose from 7% of group revenue in FY2025 to 21% in FY2026. It is targeting a market where ageing networks, population growth and tighter standards are driving investment, including a major New Zealand council-led infrastructure programme and capital expansion in South Australia and south-east Queensland. Those market estimates describe potential demand, not guaranteed revenue for Verbrec.

Execution and margin disclosure remain the next test

The headline figure combines multiple awards, and Verbrec has stated that the Australian contracts are not individually material. The announcement does not disclose contract margins, cash-flow effects or the expected timing of revenue recognition. For the Levin project, the immediate operational question is whether a 16-month design-and-build programme can convert the sizeable award into earnings without disruption across its civil, mechanical, electrical and automation components.