Petrofac confident despite order backlog sliding

5th Mar 2012 07:13

Oilfield support services titan Petrofac says it is growing increasingly confident of hitting its mid-term target of more than doubling its recurring 2010 group earnings by 2015, after a solid 2011. Revenue in the year was up by a third to $5.8bn from $4.4bn in 2010. Profit before tax climbed to $680.6m from $668.4m, while diluted earnings per share jumped by a quarter to 157.13 cents from 126.09 cents the year before. The full year dividend has been increased more or less in line with earnings, up 24% to 37.20 cents (23.39p) from 30 cents in 2010.The cost of sales rose from $3.6m to $4.8m, offsetting gross profit, which rose $0.2m to $0.96m. The order backlog at the end of 2011 had diminished to $10.8bn from $11.7bn a year earlier. Net cash balances at December 31st 2011 totalled $1.5bn, up from $1.0bn at the end of 2010. Ayman Asfari, Group Chief Executive said: "2011 has been an important year for us, with good operational performance across our portfolio of projects, the rolling out of Integrated Energy Services (IES) and positive initial progress in delivering our IES strategy."During the year we also set out our medium-term target of more than doubling our recurring 2010 group earnings by 2015. The extensive pipeline of new bidding opportunities, our strong financial position together with our differentiated and competitive offering and proven track record in project execution increase our confidence in achieving that goal. "In 2012, we expect to make further progress towards this ambition, with net profit expected to grow by at least 15%."JH/NR