Petrofac swings into the green in 2016

Petrofac posted its full-year results for the 2016 calendar year on Wednesday, claiming a “good operational performance” across all businesses with an underlying net profit of $421m.

The FTSE 250 firm said group net profit, excluding IES, was $463m, while its IES net loss was $42m.

Total revenue was up at $7.87bn, compared to $6.84bn in 2015, and reported net profit included post-tax impairments and exceptionals of $319m.

That made for a total net profit of $1m, which was still a turnaround from 2015’s net loss of $349m.

The company said new order intake during the period was $1.9bn, with a backlog of $14.3bn giving “excellent visibility” for 2017.

During the year, Petrofac exited Ticleni PEC and Berantai RSC, releasing $300m in proceeds, and the group’s net debt reduced 10% to $617m, which the board said reflected “strong” cash generation and capital expenditure rephasing.

The full year dividend was maintained at 65.80 cents per share.

“Petrofac has delivered positive results for 2016, driven by record revenues, significant cost reduction and strong cash generation,” said group chief executive Ayman Asfari.

“In a busy year, the group has also demonstrated its track record for operational delivery with more than 240 million man-hours worked across the portfolio.”

Asfari said that while the market remained competitive, bidding activity had increased in recent months.

“We have right-sized our business, have a good pipeline of opportunities across our core markets and remain cost competitive, as evidenced by recent bidding success.

“Petrofac remains firmly focused on its core strengths, committed to reducing capital intensity and maintaining a strong balance sheet.

“Operational excellence and excellent revenue visibility position us well in 2017 and for a recovery in our core markets.”