Webuild says NEOM terminates connector high-speed line contract in Saudi Arabia

May 21 (Reuters) – Saudi Arabia’s high-tech NEOM has terminated Webuild’s contract for the Connector High-Speed Line project in Tabuk, Italy’s largest construction company said on Thursday.

The termination will become effective on May 27. The works are around 20% complete, with a remaining project backlog for Webuild of around 1 billion euros ($1.16 billion).

• Webuild said the project’s termination concludes all of the company’s work with NEOM.

• The Milan-based company said that NEOM will reimburse Webuild for all costs incurred up to the termination date, including costs related to site disengagement and demobilization.

• Despite the setback, the company said it maintains a construction backlog exceeding 50 billion euros.

• NEOM in March had terminated Webuild’s contract for a system of three dams, with a project backlog of 2.8 billion euros.

• NEOM is a $500 billion mega-project central to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s Vision 2030 plan to overhaul the kingdom’s economy

• Webuild had earlier said its exposure to the Middle East was limited to about 5% of its backlog.

($1 = 0.8604 euros)

(Reporting by Chandni Shah in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber)