John Wood Group PLC expects a stronger performance in the second half, the energy services company said in a first-half trading update.
It expects to report underlying profit (adjusted EBITDA) of about US$250mln for the six months to end-June as the performance of its Consulting and Projects businesses more than offsets a decline in its Operations division.
It posted adjusted EBITDA of US$262mln in the six months to end-June 2021.
The FTSE-250 company noted a return to revenue growth with interim revenue of about US$3.2bn, helped by strong growth in Consulting and Operations even though this was partially offset by a decline in Projects. It recorded revenue of US$3.15bn in the year-earlier period.
Its order book was 18% higher year on year and up 5% in the year to date to about US$8.1bn as at the end of May.
“We expect higher revenue in 2022 across our business supported by the continued growth in our order book,” the company said.
“We expect a stronger performance in the second half, helped by an improved performance in our Turbines joint ventures and stronger revenue growth, particularly in our Projects business.”
Net debt was about at US$1.7bn at end-June 2022, although the company said it expects the sale of Built Environment Consulting business to improve its net debt position in the second half.
Net cash proceeds from this sale are expected to be around US$1.62bn, it said.