Vienna - Austria-based construction group STRABAG SE reported Tuesday that its operating profit fell by 14 per cent in 2008, owing to currency devaluations and higher risks in Eastern Europe.

Construction output jumped by 28 per cent to 13.7 billion euros (18.5 billion dollars), while STRABAG's order backlog increased 23 per cent to 13.3 billion euros.

Earnings before interest and taxes dropped 14 per cent to 270 million euros, as the company had to write down receivables in countries such as Serbia and Montenegro, owing to higher currency and default risks.

The devaluation of currencies and securities in Eastern Europe further burdened results, along with write-downs related to acquisitions.

STRABAG did not publish profit figures when it released its preliminary annual results Tuesday, but said that earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization amounted to a record 648 million euros, 9 per cent more than in 2007.

"The financial crisis has become dramatically worse since the beginning of the year," chief executive Hans Peter Haselsteiner said.

Regarding the current year, Haselsteiner said one of the big unknowns was the payment behaviour of STRABAG's customers.(dpa)