Petrofac trading in line after revival of orders

Petrofac said it was trading in line with expectations after a revival of new orders for the oilfield services group in 2017.

The company, which is under investigation by the Serious Fraud Office, also said its chairman, Rijnhard van Tets, would step down.

Petrofac said it brought in $5.2bn (£3.9bn) of new orders in the current financial year, which ends on 31 December. The figure marks an acceleration during the second half after the company notched up $1.7bn of contracts in the first half. Net debt has fallen to $850m from $1bn at the end of June.

The company's contract wins in the second half include an $800m order for BP's Phase 2 central processing facility at the Khazzan development in Oman and a $2bn contract as part of a joint venture with Samsung Engineering by Duqm Refinery and Petrochemical Industries, also in Oman.

The contracts have driven a partial revival in Petrofac's share price after the SFO said in May it was investigating the company under suspicion of bribery, corruption and money laundering related to Monaco-based Unaoil.

Petrofac shares fell 1.3% to 449p at 08:37 GMT. The shares have almost halved in value since the start of 2017 but are up from a low of 349p in early June.

Ayman Asfari, Petrofac's chief executive, said: "Overall trading remains in line with expectations, underpinned by high levels of project activity, good project execution and strong financial discipline."

Van Tets will stand down at the May 2018 annual meeting after 11 years on the board and four years as chairman. René Médori, Petrofac's senior independent director, will become chairman.