Wood Group shares slump as it launches write-offs review
Wood Group shares nosedived 55 per cent today after the engineering firm unveiled a Deloitte-led review of its operations, sparking investor concern.
The review, launched in response to recent large-scale project write-offs, will assess the firm’s contract accounting and governance.
It may also potentially lead to financial restatements.
The review was announced alongside a trading update for the quarter ended 30 September 2024.
For the quarter, the company posted revenue of $1.48bn (£1.14bn), a slight one per cent increase year on year.
Over the nine months to the end of September, revenue dipped by three per cent, landing at $4.33bn (£3.34bn).
Wood Group’s order book declined to $5.4bn (£4.1bn) by the end of September, down eight per cent compared to last year.
Wood Group launches review
Wood Group’s chief executive, Ken Gilmartin, acknowledged the quarter’s mixed performance.
“Our projects business delivered a disappointing quarter, impacted by delayed awards in our chemicals business and our continued weakness in minerals and life sciences”, he argued.
“As such, we continue to take actions to redress this under performance”.
He said, however: “We continue to make progress on our turnaround, building a simpler, higher quality Wood”.
These results follow the collapse of a takeover deal with Dubai-based engineer Sidara earlier on this year.
In August, the firm cited ‘rising geopolitical risks’ and ‘financial uncertainty’ for this withdrawal, after months of speculation and preliminary bids.