The owners of Aberdeen company Expro are unlikely to be in any hurry to get rid of it, one of its bosses said yesterday.
Finance director Jean Vernet added there was no reason for the Umbrellastream consortium, involving Arle Capital Partners, Goldman Sachs and Alpinvest, to offload the oilfield service firm anytime soon.
He said: “They are under no pressure to do anything stupid. They are very committed to the business and added $250million (£160.1million) of equity last year to fuel growth. They have repeatedly backed the company.”
Mr Vernet said Expro’s strong growth prospects – boosted by increased capital expenditure – were another reason why the owners would want to stay with the business.
He was speaking after accounts released by Companies House showed Expro, which employs 800 people in Aberdeen and 5,000 globally, made pre-tax losses of £964million during the year to March 31.
This marked a widening of losses from £641million the year before.
Expro said its financial position had remained relatively consistent, although below expectations, highlighting only a small drop in adjusted operating profits to £123.2million in the latest period. It also grew underlying revenue from continuing operations by more than £90million to £651.4million.
Expro’s figures were affected by a £549million goodwill impairment charge, which Mr Vernet said was an accounting adjustment for past performance issues and not any reflection of “how we see things going forward”.
The company recently appointed a new chairman and reshaped its senior management team under the CEO to fill the vacancy left by Graeme Coutts, who stepped down as chairman last July as it eyed more growth internationally.
Sir George Buckley, who has held top roles at companies including global blue-chip manufacturer 3M, became chairman on June 1.
Earlier this year, Expro announced the sale of its connectors and measurements arm to German manufacturer Siemens in a near-£400million deal.
Expro’s accounts revealed the company’s best-paid director received remuneration totalling £1.48million in the period, down slightly from £1.5million the year before.
The firm is a provider of management services and products which measure, improve, control and process flow from oil and gas wells in all the major hydrocarbon-producing areas of the world.