Wood Group sees first-half earnings rising thanks to margin improvement

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Services company John Wood Group said it had grown its earnings in the first half, thanks to an improvement in margins.

Revenue for the six months through June was in line on-year.

'We have delivered significant growth in operating profit together with Ebitda margin improvement,' chief executive Robin Watson said.

'This has been led by our activities in energy markets in the eastern hemisphere and our environment and infrastructure operations in North America, together with the delivery of further cost synergies.'

'Our expectation of revenue growth, strong earnings growth and cash generation in 2019 is unchanged.'

Wood Group said its guidance had been left unchanged, despite the impact of disposals completed in the first half, which contributed Ebitda of over $20m in 2018.

Revenue growth in the region of 5% weighted to the second half, together with the benefit of cost synergies of around $60m, was expected to lead to growth in adjusted Ebitda in line with market expectations.