Petrofac has strong first half

Oil and gas services group Petrofac reported a strong first half driven by growth across all its markets.

The company stuck with its prediction of full year net profit growth of at least 15% in 2012.

Earnings per share were up 32% to 94.8c, with pre-tax profits rising to $412.5m, from $300m the year before.

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Petrofac declared an interim dividend of 21 cents per share, an increase of 20.7% on the first half of 2011.

Revenue was up 20% to $3.2bn with the firm highlighting the performance of its onshore engineering and construction arm

Chief Executive Ayman Asfari said over the past few months there had been delays in certain contract tender processes with a number of anticipated awards moving from 2012 into 2013.

"Whilst these delays impact the expected level of 2012 new orders for Onshore Engineering & Construction, we continue to expect our strategy to deliver earnings growth in 2013 and beyond," he said.

"As a result, we remain confident of achieving our target of more than doubling our recurring group 2010 earnings by 2015."

Going forward, the firm said it remained confident of achieving a target of more than doubling recurring 2010 group earnings by 2015.