28th Feb 2019 08:53
LONDON (Alliance News) - Oilfield services firm Petrofac Ltd moved into a profit in 2018, the company said Thursday, while it is confident going forward despite some contract award uncertainty.
Petrofac posted a net profit of USD64 million in 2018, after a loss of USD29 million in 2017, with the latest figure boosted by lower exceptional items.
However, business performance net profit, which includes exceptional items, fell to USD353 million from USD361 million.
Revenue came in at USD5.83 billion, from USD6.40 billion a year before.
Petrofac, a member of the FTSE 250 index, secured USD5.0 billion of new orders, and as of December's end had a backlog of USD9.6 billion worth of work.
Petrofac is paying a final dividend of 25.3 US cents, flat on the year prior, meaning its total dividend for 2018 is also flat at 38 cents.
Petrofac has also moved into a net cash position as of the end of 2018, of USD90 million, having been in net debt of USD612 million a year before. This result, it said, is due to better than expected working capital inflows.
Looking divisionally, the core Engineering & Construction had a "solid" 2018, the company said, with a high level activity though man-hours did fall by 2%.
Revenue in the unit fell 15% to USD4.1 billion, mainly due to project phasing, while net profit dipped 21% to USD285 million.
Revenue rose 6% in Petrofac's Engineering & Production Services business, with net profit increased 7% to USD96 million.
Lastly, in Integrated Energy Services, revenue climbed 24% to USD282 million, as equity production surged 47% to 3.7 million barrels of oil equivalent. Net profit was USD39 million, from a loss of USD21 million.
Looking ahead, Petrofac said there is some uncertainty in the level of awards in the near-term, but it is still confident.
Petrofac also updated on the UK Serious Fraud Office's investigation, reiterating no charges have been brought against it nor any of its employees.
David Lufkin, a former global head of sales, at the start of February pleaded guilty to offering corrupt payments in an attempt to secure contracts in Saudi Arabia worth USD3.5 billion and contracts in Iraq worth USD730 million.
Petrofac faces a GBP400 million hit with shareholders preparing legal action.
Petrofac also Thursday hired Francesca Di Carlo as a non-executive director, from May 3. She is currently executive vice-president of human resources & organisation at Italy's Enel Spa.
Shares were 1.6% lower on Thursday at a price of 408.90 pence each.
Related Shares:
Petrofac