LONDON (Alliance News) - Lamprell PLC Thursday reiterated that its 2015 revenue will be flat on this year, even after the contract win it announced Wednesday, but said it is continuing to build on its strong first-half performance in the current year while staying on track with its productivity improvements and cost efficiency initiatives.
In a trading update, the oil field services company said its portfolio of projects is progressing well and its is scheduled to deliver four major projects between November 2014 and March 2015, all of which are currently on schedule.
It said it had successfully completed several key projects since July 1, notably a second Caspian Sea jackup rig, the "Mercury", in October.
"Successful completion of that project was important to the group and the board is pleased that the group was able to implement the lessons learned from the first Caspian Sea jackup rig effectively on the second project," it said.
It had said last month that the rig delivery would have a "material positive impact" on its 2014 results, and said Thursday that guidance remains unchanged.
It also converted jackup drilling rig, "MOS Frontier", into an accommodation support vessel and delivered the rig to the client in July. This was the largest rig conversion and refurbishment project in Lamprell's history.
On Wednesday, Lamprell had said it won a USD365 million contract to build two further high specification jackup drilling rigs for National Drilling Company, Abu Dhabi.
"The board maintains its view that revenue for 2015 is expected to be broadly flat on 2014 but notes that the favourable phasing in the construction cycle experienced in 2014 will not be replicated in 2015 as most projects will be in their early stages of construction," it reiterated Thursday.
"Looking ahead, we recognise the ongoing significance of winning major new orders in our key markets, which are required in order to deliver on the group's projected outlook and on its longer-term growth strategy. While some of our core markets have softened in recent months, we remain confident of our ability to win our share of new orders as proven by the announcement yesterday of the major NDC contract win," Chief Executive Jim Moffat said.
Lamprell shares were up 0.9% at 145.00 pence Thursday morning.
By Steve McGrath; stevemcgrath@alliancenews.com; @stevemcgrath1
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