Wood Group 1st Half Performance Down; Remains Cautious on Fiscal Year Outlook

LONDON--John Wood Group PLC (WG.LN) remains cautious on its full year outlook the company said Thursday as it reported that its first half performance is down on 2016 and weaker than anticipated.

The energy services company said for the six months to June 30, it experienced continued challenges in its core oil & gas market with modest recovery only in certain areas.

Robust activity in the West including improved performance in offshore greenfield project engineering and commissioning is being more than offset by weaker activity in the East, where the company has seen a further reduction in projects & modifications work, particularly in the North Sea, the company said.

Wood Group said the impact of the tougher pricing environment in 2016, partially offset by the enduring benefit of structural cost reductions achieved in the last two years, will result in a reduction in first half margin as expected.

"We are more cautious on the full year outlook but anticipate a stronger second half," the company said.

Also Thursday, Wood Group said it has been awarded a multi-million dollar contract by Husky Energy Inc., to complete detailed engineering for the topsides of White Rose, a concrete gravity-based structure wellhead platform planned for offshore eastern Canada.

-Write to Razak Musah Baba at [e-mail]; Twitter: @Raztweet

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

June 29, 2017 03:03 ET (07:03 GMT)

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