LONDON (Alliance News) - Amec Foster Wheeler PLC Wednesday said it has appointed Jonathan Lewis, who has held several senior roles at US giant Halliburton Co Inc, as its new chief executive as the company reported a drop in revenue in the first quarter of 2016.
The FTSE 250-listed oilfield services company said Lewis will takeover as chief executive from the start of June. Current interim Chief Executive Ian McHoul will step down from his role but remain as Amec Foster Wheeler's chief financial officer.
Lewis is leaving his current role as senior vice president of Halliburton to take over at the helm of Amec Foster Wheeler, which said it will pay Lewis a salary of GBP775,000 per year, plus a potential bonus.
"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," said Amec Foster Wheeler Chairman John Connolly.
Amec Foster Wheeler also published a trading update covering the first quarter of 2016. Revenue in the quarter amounted to GBP1.30 billion, 1.5% lower than the GBP1.32 billion booked a year earlier. Revenue was also down 3.1% on a like-for-like basis compared to the previous year.
The company's order book stood at GBP6.40 billion at the end of March compared to GBP6.60 billion at the end of 2015, representing a 3.0% decline. However, Amec Foster Wheeler said there is around USD500.0 million worth of projects that are awaiting for the "go-ahead", meaning they have not been included in the order book at the end of March.
Amec Foster Wheeler said its financial guidance for the full year remains unchanged, and said it is still expecting a "slight like-for-like revenue decline" in 2016. The company is also expecting the decline in trading margins to be "significantly less" this year compared to the declines experienced in 2015.
Net debt at the end of the quarter stood at GBP1.16 billion.
"As in recent years, we anticipate a working capital outflow in the first half reversing in the second half. Net debt is expected to be circa GBP1.00 billion at the year end, before any proceeds from disposals," said the company.
"The board believes selected disposals can make the major contribution to its objective of halving the group's net debt before June 2017," the company added.
By Joshua Warner; joshuawarner@alliancenews.com; @JoshAlliance
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