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Aker Solutions — Earnings Release 2015
Apr 29, 2015
3531_rns_2015-04-29_b8d06c9e-35a0-4ac9-b89d-3794e35c0ccc.html
Earnings Release
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Aker Solutions ASA: First-Quarter Results 2015
Aker Solutions ASA: First-Quarter Results 2015
April 29, 2015
Financial Highlights
* Sales NOK 8.5 billion in 1Q 2015 vs NOK 7.5 billion in 1Q 2014
* Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) NOK
591 million vs NOK 666 million a year earlier
* Earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) NOK 409 million vs NOK 521 million
a year earlier
* EBIT margin 4.8% vs 7% a year earlier
* EBIT margin ex. one-off items 5.8% vs 7% a year earlier
* Earnings per share (EPS) NOK 0.79 vs NOK 1.03 a year earlier
* Order intake NOK 9 billion vs NOK 5.9 billion a year earlier
* Order backlog NOK 48.3 billion vs NOK 39.6 billion a year earlier
Aker Solutions' revenue rose 14 percent to NOK 8.5 billion in the first quarter
of 2015 from a year earlier, boosted by progress on major projects from Angola
to Brazil and Norway. Earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) fell 22 percent
to NOK 409 million in the quarter from a year earlier. The EBIT margin in the
same period narrowed to 4.8 percent from 7 percent.
Earnings were impacted by costs of overcapacity in the maintenance,
modifications and operations (MMO) workforce, a NOK 52 million provision to
cover lease costs for vacated office space and a NOK 26 million write-off on
some subsea technology. The results were also affected by a slow start to the
year for subsea services, particularly in the North Sea, and some unfavorable
outcomes of late-stage commercial discussions on a few subsea projects. These
developments were partly offset by operational improvements and better capacity
utilization in the engineering business. Excluding one-off items, the EBIT
margin was 5.8 percent in the quarter.
Aker Solutions secured NOK 9 billion in orders in the quarter, including a NOK
4.5 billion five-year contract from Statoil to provide engineering, procurement
and management assistance (EPMA) services at the Johan Sverdrup oilfield in the
North Sea. The company also won an order from Statoil for concept studies on
future phases of the development. This helped boost the order backlog to NOK
48.3 billion at the end of the quarter from NOK 39.6 billion a year earlier.
About two-thirds of the backlog came from projects to be delivered outside
Norway.
"The markets continued to be challenging as many of our major clients remain
vigilant in how they allocate their capital,'' said Luis Araujo, Aker Solutions'
chief executive officer. "Still, our healthy order backlog puts us in a strong
position as we face this uncertain outlook. We made good progress in the quarter
on major projects and also benefited from improvement programs across the
business."
Aker Solutions has two reporting segments: Subsea and Field Design. Subsea
revenue rose 24 percent in the quarter to NOK 5.1 billion from a year earlier,
driven mainly by progress on major projects in Angola, Congo and Brazil. The
EBIT margin narrowed to 7 percent in the quarter from 7.2 percent a year
earlier.
Sales in Field Design, comprising the engineering and MMO units, rose 2 percent
from a year earlier to NOK 3.5 billion in the quarter. The EBIT margin in the
same period narrowed to 4.4 percent from 6.8 percent as improved engineering
margins were offset by weaker MMO results.
Aker Solutions in February announced plans to reduce its Norwegian MMO workforce
by a potential 300 employees in 2015 through normal turnover, reassignments to
other parts of the business and dismissals. This followed adjustments last year
as activity in the Norwegian MMO market declined.
Underlying factors that support a positive long-term outlook for offshore and
deepwater oil and gas developments remain in place. The company will benefit in
the long term from a shift toward more complex offshore resources. Aker
Solutions maintains a medium-term guidance to grow with its key markets and at
least maintain market share in its core subsea, engineering and MMO businesses.
In subsea, the aim is to gradually move toward peer-group margin levels. Margins
in engineering are expected to remain robust and they are anticipated to
gradually recover in MMO.
ENDS
For further information, please contact:
Media:
Bunny Nooryani, Chief Communications Officer, Aker Solutions. Tel:
+47 67 59 42 71, Mob: +47 480 27 575, E-mail: [email protected]
Anne Cecilie Lund-Andersen, Media Relations Manager, Aker Solutions. Tel:
+47 22 94 74 52, Mob: +47 99 62 12 13, E-mail: anne.cecilie.lund-
Investor relations:
David Phillips, Head of Industry & Investor Relations, Aker Solutions. Tel:
+44 208 811 7111, Mob: +44 7788 338 887, E-mail:
Lasse Torkildsen, SVP Investor Relations, Aker Solutions. Tel: +47 67 51 30 39,
Mob: +47 911 37 194, E-mail: [email protected]
Career opportunities:
Visit http://www.akersolutions.com/careers
Aker Solutions is a global provider of products, systems and services to the oil
and gas industry. Its engineering, design and technology bring discoveries into
production and maximize recovery. The company employs approximately 17,000
people in about 20 countries. Go to www.akersolutions.com for more information
on our business, people and values.
This press release may include forward-looking information or statements and is
subject to our disclaimer, see www.akersolutions.com.
This information is subject of the disclosure requirements pursuant to section
5-12 of the Norwegian Securities Trading Act.
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