Amec’s first-half profit fell 4.4% following currency fluctuations and a slowdown in the US business.
The UK’s second-biggest oil and gas engineer said it expects “modest” revenue growth this year.
Earnings before interest, tax and amortization dropped to $256 million in the six months ended June 30 from $267.8million a year earlier, the London-based company said today in a statement.
The company raised its dividend to 14.8 pence a share, even as revenue declined 7% to £1.85billion.
“We now expect to see modest underlying revenue growth in 2014 for our existing operations,” chief executive Samir Brikho said in the statement.
“A 10% increase in the interim dividend signals our belief in the underlying strength of Amec.”
The company faced a $269.5million impact of adverse currency translation arising from the strength of the pound.
Current exchange rates and forecast average North American exchange rates for the rest of the year continue to poorer than 2013, the company said. That would drag full-year revenue down by about $421million and Ebita by about $42million, according to the statement.
The company reported a slowdown in conventional oil and gas and continued weakness in oil sands in its US business.
Amec, which agreed to buy US-traded Foster Wheeler earlier this year to expand its geographic footprint, won contracts including in the North Sea, and was the preferred bidder for Poland’s first nuclear power plant.
The Foster Wheeler deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter, Amec said today.
The order book was up 16% to $7billion.
Recommended for you
