Gulf war unlikely to have marked effect on operations, says oil and gas group

icwales.icnetwork.co.uk Mar 11 2003 The Western Mail - The National Newspaper Of Wales   OIL and gas services provider John Wood Group yesterday said the looming war in Iraq was unlikely to have a significant impact on its operations.

The company, which designs and manages oil and gas projects in 34 countries, said it only expected to be hurt by the conflict if war spread across the wider Gulf region.

The company had been hit by the continuing general strike in Venezuela.

But both Iraq and Venezuela could provide medium-term growth opportunities, Wood Group said.

Wood, which said its markets were expected to grow by 5% in 2003, said it looked to the future with confidence after unveiling a 36% rise in 2002 pre-tax profits.

Sales in the year to December 31 rose by 14% to $1.7bn (£1.1bn) with pre-tax profits up $114.7m (£71.8m) from $1.5bn (£0.9bn) last time.

Chairman Sir Ian Wood said, "These results confirm the success of our strategy, with our broad geographic coverage, business spread across the energy sector and focus on less cyclical activities within oil and gas providing both growth and financial resilience.

"We are well positioned to continue the very successful Wood Group story and we look to the future with confidence."

Based in Aberdeen, Wood Group listed on the London Stock Exchange in May 2002 in what was the largest Scottish flotation for nine years.

Shares gained 6p yesterday, or more than 4%, to 148p. Shareholders will also receive 1.2p a share final dividend, making a maiden total dividend of 1.8p.