WorleyParsons shares plummet on result

Shares in engineering and maintenance business WorleyParsons have tumbled on news its first-half profit had fallen 7 per cent to $104.3 million.

Revenue for the six months to December was down 8.4 per cent to $4.42 billion, but chief executive Andrew Wood said the results were solid.

“Aggregated revenue was down primarily due to the expected continued downturn in our services business in Australia and our major projects business in North America,” he said.

“The actions we took nearly 12 months ago to position the business to take advantage of market conditions have helped us to deliver a solid result despite declining revenues.

“We have improved margins in the first half through an intense focus on delivering what we promise to our customers and prudently containing our costs.”

Mr Wood said the benefits of the restructure would continue to flow into the second half.

WorleyParsons also declared an interim dividend of 34 cents per share, partially franked at 7.9 per cent.

“Our financial position remains strong,” Mr Wood said.

He said the company’s financial position remained strong after making 500 positions redundant during the half.

“We remain focused on taking costs out of the business, continuing to improve our delivery of services to our customers and returns to our shareholders in what we expect to be challenging conditions in the second half,” Mr Wood said.

“Our business remains relatively resilient through our strategy of sector, geographic and service offering diversification.’’

WorleyParsons shares fell 14.8 per cent to $9.58 per share at 10:30am.