UK: Kentz Revenue Up 29 Percent

Kentz Corporation Limited, the holding company of the Kentz engineering and construction group,  announced its unaudited group results for the year ending 31 December 2011.

Financial Highlights

• Revenue in 2011 increased by 29% to US$1,367.5m (2010:US$1,057.4m)
• Profit before tax in 2011 increased by 18% to US$79.4m (2010:US$67.5m)
• Profit before tax margin 5.8% (6.2% excluding non-recurring costs) (2010: 6.4%)
• Gross cash balance at the end of 2011 increased 3% to US$238.1m (2010: US$231.3m)
• EPS (basic) 50.61 US¢ up 25% (2010: 40.66 US cents). EPS (diluted) 48.98 US¢ up 23% (2010: 39.91 US¢)
• Backlog at the end of 2011 increased by 50% to US$2,400.9m (2010: US$1,602.6m)
• Proposed final dividend of 7.3 US¢ per share; total 2011 dividend payment of 12.3 US¢ per share, an increase of 23% over the prior year

Corporate Development and Operational Highlights

• Graduated to the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange on 22 July 2011
• The award of a US$2.3bn contract, in joint venture with CB&I, for the mechanical, electrical and instrumentation work on the Gorgon project on Barrow Island, Western Australia
• Signed an engineering, procurement and construction management (EPCM) framework agreement with Qatargas Operating Company Limited (Qatargas), in joint venture with Foster Wheeler
• The award of a US$32.7m contract for the reduction area electrical and instrumentation on the Ma’aden Alcoa Aluminium Joint Venture
• Pipeline of opportunities with key clients and sectors, has grown 23% to in excess of US$10 billion

Current Trading and Prospects

• Record backlog at the end of February 2012 stood at US$2,439.2m
• The award in January 2012 of the integrated commissioning services contract on the Queensland Curtis (QCLNG) project in Queensland, Australia
• Christian Brown appointed as Chief Executive of the Company effective from 1 February 2012, succeeding Hugh O’Donnell who has served in the role since 2000.

Commenting on the results Christian Brown, Chief Executive Officer of Kentz said:

“It has been another year of significant progress for Kentz and I am pleased to report growth in each of our three Global Business Units. Maintaining a good balance between our Businesses, and leveraging the synergies between them has underpinned our business model and continues to provide further opportunities. The 2011 performance was delivered by 14,000 employees worldwide including a very strong management team who have substantial past experience and an enormous appetite to take on new challenges. Looking forward our focus is on growing the addressable pipeline of prospects for Kentz. Our global spread of operations positions us well to benefit from the continued investment in both natural resource and energy markets. We are trading in line with market expectations and I am confident that we will capitalise on future opportunities to execute safe and successful projects for our clients and to continue to deliver value for our shareholders.”

[mappress]
LNG World News Staff, March 26, 2012