The CFO of Petrofac said the firm will not be providing “running commentary” on its business review, which includes potential to sell-off parts of the business.
Two weeks ago, Petrofac (LON:PFC) said it was conducting a review of strategic and financial options, which includes selling off non-core assets, in an attempt to return value to shareholders.
The energy services firm is also looking into investors taking on non-controlling stakes in other parts of the business.
Reports surfaced last week indicating the business is looking to sell its upstream and pipelay vessel assets.
On an investor call today, chief financial officer Afonso Reis e Sousa, kept schtum when asked about plans to improve cash flow.
He said: “I think we’ve made very clear what our objectives are to strengthen the balance sheet and ensure we have the right financial structure to support the extremely positive business outlook that we see ahead of us.”
With its “positive business outlook” combined with the ongoing review of non-core assets Mr Sousa added: “Beyond that, I think providing a running commentary would be unhelpful. We’ll make a further announcement when the time is right.”
CEO Tareq Kawash told investors on the call that his firm will employ “roughly around 9,000” people globally by the end of the year.
A trading update on Wednesday revealed a $180 million group loss is expected for 2023, following a $110m write-down on contract agreement issues.
However, Petrofac described an “exceptional new order intake” across both Engineering and Construction (E&C) and Asset Solutions, totalling approximately US$6.8 billion in the year-to-date.
The group backlog stands at around $8.0 billion at the end of the year.
Petrofac stock prices increased by nearly 40% this morning following the trading update, including announcement of a new $1.4bn contract with Dutch transmission firm TenneT.
However, this follows share prices dropping significantly at the end of November and coincides with news of the company’s debt, which is expected to rise, and other cash flow issues.
Analysts said that, while the backlog is positive, underlying issues around cash flow – which impact ability to carry out contracts, remain.
When Petrofac announced the review of its business it said that a key aim was to protect the interests of shareholders, creditors and employees.
The firm has previously said it is “actively engaged” with financial investors to take a non-controlling position “in certain other components of the business portfolio”.
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