Business | Oil & Gas
Petrofac profit up 33% as Mideast, Asia orders rise
Higher oil prices spur new drilling
- Bloomberg
- Published: 00:00 March 9, 2010
London: Petrofac Plc, the UK oil-services provider whose shares more than doubled in a year, posted a 33 per cent gain in full-year profit as orders increased in the Middle East and Asia.
Net income rose to $353.6 million (Dh1,298 million) in 2009 from $265 million a year earlier, the London-based company said yesterday in a statement. The order intake climbed to a record $7.3 billion, with a backlog of $8.1 billion as of December 31.
"Petrofac has come through what's been a challenging year for many in our industry in excellent shape," Chief Financial Officer Keith Roberts said yesterday in a conference call. "The backlog gives us excellent revenue visibility for this year and beyond."
Sales advanced 10 per cent to $3.66 billion last year as oil prices rebounded from their 2008 slump. Explorers that shelved spending plans as the recession eroded energy demand began to study investment as economies recovered. Petrofac's main clients are in Abu Dhabi, Algeria, Saudi Arabia and Turkmenistan.
Petrofac rose as much as 2.5 per cent to 1,099 pence in London trading yesterday, the biggest jump in a week. The stock was at 1,091 pence as of 8.49am local time, taking its 12-month gain to 133 per cent.
The company said last week it would combine its UK North Sea fields with those of Lundin Petroleum AB, forming a new business called EnQuest Plc. The move is part of Petrofac's strategy to sell or swap assets following their development.
Petrofac's engineering and construction division added 1,200 people last year and can maintain profit margins of 10 per cent in the "medium term," according to the statement. That unit accounts for about three-quarters of the order backlog.
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