Wood chips off $54m from selling JV stakes

Wood Group reaped $54m in cash proceeds from selling off stakes in non-core joint ventures in the last couple of months.

The FTSE 100 company sold off stakes in a UK road-building concession, a Chinese manufacturing facility and a pair of Italian gas power plants in December and has also completed the disposal of an Italian wind farm JV that was first agreed in August.

Wood Group's share of adjusted operating profits from the four joint ventures was forecast to be roughly $8m for the 2019 calendar year, with the UK roads JV carrying significant capital commitments and an ongoing interest cost of around $5m.

Chief financial officer David Kemp said the cash proceeds of around $54m will be generated once all the deals are completed, contributing to a $200m non-core asset disposal programme that is a key element of the board's deleveraging plan.