John Wood Group PLC held guidance for 2023 despite what it called “an uncertain outlook”.
In a trading update, the FTSE 250-listed firm said against a backdrop of a weak first quarter in 2022, group revenue in this year’s first quarter increased to around US$1,450mln, reflecting good momentum across all business units and higher pass-through revenue. Group adjusted EBITDA was in line with expectations.
The firm is awaiting news from Apollo Global about whether the US private equity giant intends to make a firm offer ahead of the 17 May deadline.
Last month, it proposed a takeover price of 240p per share, valuing Wood at £1.66bn, which Apollo said represented a “compelling opportunity” for shareholders.
The company said its order book at 31 March was around US$5.7bn, slightly lower than at end-December 2022, reflecting the phasing of large multi-year awards in Operations.
Shares fell 0.2% to 221p.