LONDON--U.K.-listed oil services company Petrofac PLC said
Tuesday that the fighting in Iraq has had no significant impact on
its current operations there.
Petrofac's operations are south and east of Baghdad and
represent less than 5% of the group's expected revenues for
2014.
The company said in a trading update that it expected its net
profit for the full year to come in between $580 million and $600
million. The company had previously forecast the year's figure to
be the same or slightly higher than the $650 million achieved in
2013.
Petrofac said profit was expected to be "significantly" weighted
toward the second half when offshore projects start to be
delivered.
"Our pipeline of bidding opportunities remains attractive,
which, together with our strong competitive position, should see us
secure a number of further awards over the second half of the
year," said Chief Executive Ayman Asfari.
In May, Petrofac said it expected full-year net profit to be
lower mostly because of project delays in the Greater Stella Area
in the U.K. North Sea, lower-than-expected production in Romania
and the dilution of equity interest in Nigerian oil company Seven
Energy.
The drop in the profit forecast highlights the challenging
operating environment for service companies. They provide the
engineering and construction on oil and gas projects, but are
coming under increasing pressure as the big oil companies that are
their main customers clamp down on spending.
Petrofac said its backlog stood at $20.1 billion at May 31, with
more than half in the offshore engineering and construction
division of the company.
Write to Selina Williams at selina.williams@wsj.com
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