Kentz profits soar

Irish engineer Kentz Corp today reported a 32pc rise in full-year profit as demand for its services from the oil and gas industry continued to grow.

Chief executive Christian Brown said 2012 had been a successful one for Kentz. He added that over 65pc of its target 2013 revenues are already under contract.

“Our success in growing our backlog and sales pipeline is underpinned by our ability to successfully execute projects and secure repeat business from our major clients,” he said.

“Against this backdrop we have also added further opportunities to our pipeline of prospects, all of which gives us excellent earnings visibility and confidence that we will deliver double-digit earnings growth in 2013.”

The company took in just over $1.7bn worth of orders in 2012 and releases its full-year results in March. It acknowledged the business climate remains tough.

“Despite this climate, having over 65pc revenue cover from orders on hand is in line with our expectations and also with prior years’ experience,” the company said.

“This achievement, coupled with the continuing solid margin levels supports our confidence in achieving our targets in 2013.”

Kentz works on projects around the world from Russia to Australia. Its clients include a range of oil and mining majors including Shell and Rio Tinto.

The pretax profit rose to $104.8 million in the year ended Dec. 31 from $79.4 million a year earlier. Revenue increased 6 percent to $1.56 billion.

Analysts on average had expected a pretax profit of $96.6 million and revenue of $1.46 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Kentz raised its final dividend to 9 cents per share from 7.3 cents a year earlier.