Offshore engineering group Kværner saw its 2013 profits rise after high North Sea activity.
The Norwegian industrial group saw its full year profits up from to £15.5million to £23.5million, with revenues of £1.2billion compared to £872million the year before.
Kværner sold off its North American onshore business at the end of last year to complete its exit from the US Downstream market.
“The fourth quarter results as well as the full year figures reflect that we experience high activity levels and good resource utilisation,” said chief executive Jan Arve Haugan.
The company said it still remained positive about the offshore industry, and expected an active market on both the Norwegian Continental Shelf and international oil markets.
However, the company warned it expected strong competition from South-east Asia as Korean firms continued to ramp up their presence in the North Sea.
The firm said it had an order backlog in excess of £2billion to execute over the next few year, but said it would continue to look at cost-cutting with a bid to make 15% of savings.
One area under review is the Vardal construction yard which, after delivering two jackets this year, has no new orders. Kværner admitted the facility faced a ‘challenging’ future.
“Our main priority remains firm,” said Mr Haugan.
“It is to execute and safely deliver on-going projects predictable and according to the customers’ specifications. We have a strong order book for our operations, except for our jackets business.
“We are currently assessing various opportunities for our yard in Verdal and we need to conclude this process very soon.”
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