Oil services firm Petrofac moved back into the black in the first half of 2016 despite booking a $101 million loss on a troubled gas field contract.
Half year results for the six months to June 30 show Petrofac increased global revenues significantly from $3.18 billion in the same period in 2015 to $3.88bn.
The company – which has significant interests in the North Sea and which operates an offshore training centre at Forties Road in Montrose through its Integrated Energy Services (IES) division – produced a pre-tax profit of $12m in the first six months of 2016, up from a $182m loss in the same period last year.
The 2016 figure includes $123m of “exceptional items and certain re-measurements” which the group said were primarily non-cash items related to the IES operation.
It said the net book value of IES now stood at $1.6bn.
Despite the sustained lower global oil price, Petrofac said it was well-positioned with a strong order book.
“We remain focused on our core proposition: strong project execution, clear geographic focus, a disciplined approach to bidding and a sustainable, cost-effective structure,” the company told investors.
“Our backlog stands at high levels, giving us excellent revenue visibility for 2H 2016 and 2017 and our overall portfolio is in good shape.
“We have a strong pipeline of bidding opportunities and we are actively bidding on a large number of projects in our core markets.
We continue to drive cost optimisation and operational excellence to improve upon our already very cost-effective structure.”
Shares in Petrofac were flat following the interim results announcement and confirmation that BG Group executive Alastair Cochran was replacing new G4S recruit Tim Weller as group chief financial officer and executive director.
Petrofac group chief executive Ayman Asfari said the group had made good progress towards reducing its capital intensity and remained committed to delivering value from the IES portfolio.
We have delivered a positive set of results for the first half of the year, reflecting good project execution,” Mr Asfari said.
“We are on track to meet expectations for the full year 2016 and our high level of backlog gives us excellent revenue visibility for 2017.
“While there have been few project awards in our core markets in the year to date, we have a strong pipeline of bidding opportunities and we are actively bidding on a large number of projects.”
Shares closed down 0.92% at 858.5p.