Wood Group enjoyed a jump in profits during the first half of the year after cashing in on the shale-gas boom in America.
Results for the first six months of 2013 show that pre-tax profits across the firm reached £118million, up 16.6% on last year.
Despite the strong performance, shares in the company fell yesterday with news that growth in its engineering division may not be as high as predicted due to weakening demand in Canada.
Chief executive Bob Keiller said new work and a strong performance in the North Sea had helped the business continue to grow.
He told Energy Voice: “All three of our divisions have seen growth in different ways. And the North Sea is doing really well.
“We have achieved good growth in the first half and remain confident of achieving full-year performance in line with expectations.”
The company had predicted full-year profits before tax and interest of about 15% for the engineering side of the business.
But it revised that figure down to 10-15%, blaming project delays and a weaker market in Canada.
Delays in the Gulf of Mexico have also had an impact.
Its share price was down 8%, or 72p, to 831p, yesterday as a consequence, despite the healthy profits.
Nevertheless, the group declared an interim dividend of 7.1 cents – a 25% rise – which it said reflected its confidence in its longer-term outlook.
Mr Keiller joined Wood Group when his previous firm, PSN, was bought for £606million in 2011.
He succeeded Allister Langlands in the top post at the end of October when the former chief executive replaced Sir Ian Wood as Wood Group’s chairman.
Since then, Mr Keiller said he had focused on bringing the company’s 43,000 people and three divisions – Wood Group PSN, GTS and Engineering – closer together.
He added: “In March, I talked about our focus on increasing collaboration across Wood Group; this is progressing well and we have already seen new business opportunities driven by people working more closely together.
“Activity levels generally remain healthy and we believe the group is well positioned for future growth.”
Shale-gas developments have helped boost the group’s profits in America – and Mr Keiller said the firm were ready help develop fields in the UK if the controversy over fracking subsides.
Wood Group Mustang and Wood Group PSN have about 2,500 personnel providing engineering, operations and maintenance services to US shale fields.
Mr Keiller said: “People have legitimately held concerns and I respect everyone’s right to make them. It’s not for us to say it should or shouldn’t ahead.
“But it would be a good opportunity for us with the skills we have.”
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