Member Article

Revenue steady at Amec Foster Wheeler despite ‘challenging market conditions’

Engineering firm Amec Foster Wheeler has this morning (Wednesday) announced a steady set of financials for Q1 despite, what it calls, ‘challenging conditions’ in the market.

The London-headquartered multinational saw revenue drop by 1.5% year-on-year, from £1,320m in 2015 to £1,300m, for the first quarter of 2016, working out at a 3.1% decline when adjusted for currency.

Amec Foster Wheeler’s order book also saw a slight decline, standing at £6.4bn at the end of March, marking a 3% decline on the £6.6bn-worth of orders it had at the same point last year, however this does not include $500m of orders in the pipeline for the group’s power equipment business Global Power Group.

The figures come as the engineering giant attempts to restructure its operations and significantly reduce its debt, which currently stands at £1.16bn, after the crash in oil prices seriously harmed the firm’s balance book.

As a result, Amec Foster Wheeler has embarked on a disposal drive of its ‘non-core’ businesses, which includes the sale of its GPG business as it looks to halve its debt by mid-2017.

Following today’s quarterly trading update, Chief Financial Officer and interim Chief Executive, Ian McHoul commented: “Our asset-light and flexible operating model and access to a wide range of end-markets and customers means we are well-placed to tackle the challenging market conditions which continue in many areas of our operations. This resilience means our financial guidance for 2016 remains unchanged”.

New incoming Chief Executive

Also included in today’s update to the London Stock Exchange was the announcement that current Halliburton Executive Committee Vice President, Dr Jonathan Lewis, has been appointed as Amec Foster Wheeler’s new Chief Executive.

Jonathan, who has held a number of roles at the US oil giant since 1996, will be expected to steer the firm through choppy waters in the coming weeks and months, as it continues on its major debt reduction programme.

John Connolly, Chairman, said: “I am delighted that Jon will soon be joining us as our new CEO. He brings with him thirty years of experience in the oil and gas industry across many parts of the world, including twenty years as a senior executive at Halliburton where he built a reputation for safe and ethical operations, strategic market insight, strong leadership, commercial discipline and consistently delivered against commitments.”

Jonathan will replace the interim Chief Executive Ian McHoul on the 1 June.