North-East Business
Amec North-East offices share in success
6:26pm Wednesday 22nd February 2012
EXPERTISE in oil and gas engineering projects has helped a North-East firm enjoy a record order book.
Oil and gas, alongside mining, were highlighted by Amec as areas of growth last year, with the strength of activity in the North Sea a key driver.
Releasing its results for last year yesterday, Amec recorded increased revenues of £3.3bn, up from £2.9bn in 2010, although profit before tax was flat at £259m.
The engineering and project management firm's order book stood at £3.7bn on December 31, up from £3.1bn the previous year.
Amec, which employs about 400 workers at its industrial headquarters in Darlington, and 100 staff at Wynyard Park, near Stockton, said both North-East offices had played their part in the results.
Last April, Amec announced that the Wynyard Park office would lead engineering, procurement and construction management work oncapital projects at BP's seven British oil terminals.
Last March, the same office was chosen to lead the £32m contract to prepare the Teesside Gas Processing Plant at Seal Sands, to process gas from the recently-discovered Breagh field, 60 miles off the North-East coast.
The field, on the Dogger Shelf, is one of the North Sea's largest gas discoveries in recent years.
In recent months, the Wynyard office has been chosen to project manage a £10m contract on a BP oil terminal in Grangemouth, Scotland, and to carry out major maintenance and repair work for Tees Valley processing firm Sabic UK Petrochemicals, which awarded the company two contract extensions worth £70m.
Oil and gas work is contained in Amec's natural resources division, which saw a nine per cent growth in revenue to £1.7bn.
The number of employees in the division rose 14 per cent to more than 12,000, almost half the group's global headcount of about 25,000.
Other oil and gas projects the firm was involved in included providing services to ConocoPhillips, Centrica and GDF Suez.
Revenue in the power and process division increased six per cent to £849m last year, up from £802m in 2010.
Samir Brikho, Amec chief executive, said:
"Amec continued tomake good progress in 2011, boosted by oil and gas and mining in particular. The outlook for 2012 is underpinned by the positive industry backdrop and the strength of the order book."
The encouraging results have led Amec, which is debt free, to launch a £400m share buy-back programme, which is expected to be completed over the next year.