4th Jun 2014 09:10
LONDON (Alliance News) - KBC Advanced Technologies PLC said Wednesday that it confident that it will meet management expectations for the current year after seeing good growth prospects across its regions since the beginning of the year.
The consultancy and software provider to the global hydrocarbon processing industry said the year has started well and that it is experiencing good growth prospects in most regions, with Latin America, the Middle East, North Africa, Russia and Asia continuing to underpin its success.
In a statement released ahead of its annual general meeting Wednesday, KBC said the North America market is also providing growth opportunities again after three years of relative stagnation in downstream oil and gas.
The company said the reorganisation and reconstruction of its operations, which started in 2012, is "almost behind us with overheads reduced and the margins in consulting progressing well towards our targets for this year and 2015."
The company has recently signed a USD5.2 million four-year software licence renewal for Petro-SIM secured with one of its Latin American customers.
KBC added that it is now looking to strengthen its teams in its growth regions and notes that the modernization of its business support systems will require further effort and investment in the medium term. The company recently appointed Andrew Hebb as interim CFO; he will remain in the role until a new long-term CFO is found to support the next five years of substantial growth, said the company.
Looking ahead, and subject to approval on June 9, 2014, KBC will have raised GBP24 million of new equity to fund its growth, especially in the software and upstream consulting divisions. "It is particularly encouraging that a number of major new investors have supported this placing," said the company.
"The growth in our markets, together with a healthy pipeline at the start of the year, gives us confidence in meeting management's expectations for the current year and the new investor funding will provide a platform for longer term growth prospects," said Ian Godden, KBC Chairman.
Shares in KBC Advanced Technologies were trading 3.35% higher at 139 pence per share Wednesday morning.
By Alice Attwood; [email protected]; @AliceAtAlliance
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