Construction group Ballast Nedam said on Friday it would make an operational loss of between €35m and €45m this year.

The company, which has not made a profit since 2011, also confirmed it is selling its offshore activities to Van Oord to raise cash.

‘The sale of Ballast Nedam Offshore’s activities means a provisional end to the divestment programme,’ the company said in a statement.

The company’s financial woes have been mainly caused by the losses incurred on the the A15 Maasvlakte – Vaanplein road project and by ‘further disappointing project results’ in the infrastructure division.

Ballast Nedam expects the sale to Van Oord to deliver ‘significant’ book profit and hopes to conclude the deal shortly. The sale price was not published.

Ballast Nedam’s share price rose sharply two weeks ago after the company received a confidential offer for the offshore arm.

Analysts said at the time there may have been insider trading involved, the Financieele Dagblad reports. The company issued a statement saying it had no explanation for the sudden rise.