Oilfield Services Firm Petrofac on Target for 2012

Oilfield services firm Petrofac reported Monday that it expects to deliver profit growth of at least 15 percent in 2012 after a strong performance during the first half.

Revenue during the six months to June 30 increased 20 percent to $3.2 billion, while net profit improved 32 percent to $325.3 million.

The company added that it remains confident that it will achieve its target of more than doubling its 2010 group earnings by 2015.

This latest upbeat outlook from Petrofac comes after last month's announcement of a three-year contract in the North Sea worth approximately $157 million.

Petrofac said that its ECOM (engineering, construction, operations and maintenance) division sees a significant number of bidding opportunities in core markets in the Middle East, Africa, Russia, Europe and Asia Pacific. However, it warned that the ECOM division has seen delays in the award of onshore engineering and construction projects from 2012 into 2013, although the firm expects a larger addressable market for onshore engineering and construction next year.

In offshore projects and operations, Petrofac said it has good revenue visibility following a strong run of recent awards and is continuing its high levels of bidding activity on both long-term operations support contracts and offshore capital projects.

In its Integrated Energy Services division, Petrofac expects to deliver strong earnings growth this year, driven by a number of contracts. These include the sale to Ithaca Energy of 75 percent of its FPF1 floating production facility on the Greater Stella Area development in the North Sea.

"As previously indicated, over the past few months we have seen delays in certain contract tender processes with a number of anticipated awards moving from 2012 into 2013. Whilst these delays impact the expected level of 2012 new orders for Onshore Engineering & Construction, we continue to expect our strategy to deliver earnings growth in 2013 and beyond," Petrofac Group Chief Executive Ayman Asfari said in a statement.

"As a result, we remain confident of achieving our target of more than doubling our recurring Group 2010 earnings by 2015."

A former engineer, Jon is an award-winning editor who has covered the technology, engineering and energy sectors since the mid-1990s. Email Jon at jmainwaring@rigzone.com.

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