Norwegian oil service firm Aker Solutions posted an increase in third quarter profits thanks to a cost efficiency drive and its involvement in major projects.
Aker notched up pre-tax profits of £17.5million for the three months, up 3.4% on the same period last year.
Revenues dropped 9% year-on-year to £515million as activity levels for subsea projects remained low.
But Aker said there were signs of recovery and that its engineering services were in demand.
Aker, which has a large north-east workforce, won 13 study awards for front-end engineering in the third quarter, giving it a record of 84 so far this year.
Chief executive Luis Araujo also said activity would pick up over the next six months with contracts for several large projects set to be awarded.
He said: “We are demonstrating consistently strong execution quarter by quarter and also benefiting from our relentless push for continuous improvement.”
Aker will book one-off charges of £14million in the fourth quarter from consolidating its manufacturing business.
Also yesterday, the company said it had clinched a £150million deal to supply the largest ever umbilicals systems.
It will deliver 155miles of umbilicals linking a subsea development to an existing offshore platform.
Aker did not disclose the name of the customer or the project, but did say its team in Oslo would lead the work.
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