Capital Raising, page-260

One thing I do know is the aid part of their business has a very small contribution to profitability. My guess is up to 1/4 of the overall staff with less than 5% of the profit. It's a very weird model with most staff being contractors and no margin made on them, only a management fee for each project. Historically it was an excellent vehicle into new markets for more profitable parts of their business. Its not surprising that many Engineering firms dont have an aid business. High Risk, Low Margins and culturally diverse groups of people (I mean that from a business culture perspective).