Wood Group trading as expected

11th Oct 2010 07:02

Wood Group is still trading in line with forecasts and the provider of support services to the oil and gas industry expects to match full-year estimates.The Aberdeen-based firm, which today won a $152m contract to convert California's Tracy Peaker power plant to a combined cycle facility, said higher bidding volumes and recent contract awards at its engineering business should help improve numbers in the second half and into 2011. Despite a "relatively soft" aftermarket in gas turbine services, things are expected to get better during the second half based on higher underlying activity ongoing cost-cutting.Wood already flagged forecasts for a brighter final six months back in August when it announced a fall in first half pre-tax profit to $122.6m from $160.8m last time. "Our financial position remains strong and we anticipate good operating cash flow for the second half of the year," the group said Monday. "Overall, we continue to believe that the group's performance for 2010 will be in line with expectations."A full-year trading update is due 16 December.