Wood shares fall amid earnings slump, modest forecast

Shares of Aberdeen-based oil and engineering giant Wood Group fell about 5% on Tuesday after it said the company’s 2017 earnings before interest, tax and amortization (EBITA) fell 11.1% to $598 million on a pro forma basis.

Wood, which bought smaller rival Amec Foster Wheeler last year, said 2017 revenue also fell 12% to $9.9 billion on a pro forma basis.

“At this early stage we currently anticipate modest EBITA growth in 2018,” said Wood.

Wood CEO Robin Watson said: “2017 was a year of transformational strategic development.

“The acquisition of Amec Foster Wheeler in October brought together two businesses and three brands to create Wood, a global leader in project, engineering and technical services delivery.

“We are a broader business with multi-sector, full service capability across energy and industrial markets and a stronger, more balanced offering in oil & gas.

“Integration is progressing ahead of schedule with initial cost synergies achieved earlier than plan.

“Financial performance for 2017 is in line with guidance.

“I am confident we have a unique platform to unlock revenue synergies and generate good longer term growth.”