Japan crisis no threat to AMEC sales
BRITISH oil services and engineering group AMEC has said the outlook for its nuclear unit was unchanged despite the nuclear crisis in Japan, as it reported a strong order intake for the first four months of 2011.
AMEC said that its pipeline of orders grew to £3.25bn on 30 April from £3.14bn at the end of 2010, boosted by contract awards in Chile and the North Sea.
The company – which helps build nuclear power stations and service oil rigs – said trading in the first four months of 2011 was in line with expectations and it was confident of maintaining a nine per cent earnings margin this year.
AMEC’s outlook for its power division has not been impacted by events at a nuclear station in Japan and subsequent global focus on nuclear power, the FTSE 100 company said.
Reviews on the safety of nuclear power around the world were likely to support the need for specialist nuclear engineering, AMEC said.
“The outlook for AMEC’s nuclear activity, which involves reactor support, waste management, decommissioning and nuclear new build in the UK, Canada and Central and Eastern Europe, remains positive and unchanged,” said the company. Shares in AMEC, whose customers include BP and EDF, closed flat at £11.82.