25th Aug 2015 06:44
LONDON (Alliance News) - Petrofac Ltd on Tuesday said it swung to a pretax loss in the first half of 2015 despite revenue rising in the period, after the company booked multiple exceptional items and its margin was squeezed, but it kept its interim dividend flat from last year.
The FTSE 250-listed oil engineering and service company reported a USD183.0 million pretax loss in the first half of 2015, swinging from a USD188.0 million profit a year earlier, despite revenue rising to USD3.18 billion from USD2.53 billion.
Although revenue rose in the period due to increased activity for its onshore engineering and construction division, profit margin was squeezed as cost of sales totalled USD3.09 billion, leading to a gross profit of USD82 million, compared with a USD418.0 million profit a year earlier.
Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, amortisation came in at only USD9.0 million, a dramatic drop from USD136.0 million a year before. Ebitda before exceptional items came in at USD305 million, also down from USD340.0 million.
Petrofac retained its interim dividend from last year of 22.0 cents per share.
Petrofac booked exceptional items totalling USD44.0 million in the period, related to its integrated energy service division and revised commodity price expectations. It also booked USD263.0 million in losses against its Laggan-Tomore project in the UK North Sea.
Operationally, commissioning at Laggan Tomore is "well underway" but the losses were booked as a result of extra work that had to be completed in the first half.
Net debt stood at USD1.0 billion at the end of June, rising from USD700 million at the end of December.
By Joshua Warner; [email protected]; @JoshAlliance
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