Lamprell reassures after swinging to first-half loss
Oil rig maker Lamprell reassured on its future saying that its bid pipeline was positive and it was confident of the support of its banks after posting a loss in a torrid first half marred by the impact of contract delays.
Lamprell, which this year has issued a series of warnings on its performance, said today that it made a net loss of $47.1m (£29.6m) in the six months to 30 June, slightly higher than the $45m loss it forecast in July, after the cost of delayed deliveries of wind farm installation vessels.
Calling the results “a setback”, the United Arab Emirates-based company said it expected to be able to restructure its agreements with its banks to avoid any breaches in the full-year period, and added that it was continuing to see strong demand in its key oil rig market.
“The group’s order book remains at an historically high level of $1.5bn and bid activity remains positive across all our main businesses,” chief executive Nigel McCue said.
Lamprell maintained its guidance for the full-year at a loss of between $12 to $17m.
The introduction of new systems and the reorganisation of management were also being implemented to try to address the difficulties that led to the company’s under-performance, it said.