Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) amounted to NOK 109 million, including a net positive effect of NOK 42 million from the sale of EPC Center in Houston. Excluding the effect from the sale, the EBITDA margin was 2.8 percent in the quarter. The order backlog amounted to NOK 21 788 million.
“The high order backlog represents a solid foundation for our business and a favourable momentum going into 2013”, says Jan Arve Haugan, President & CEO of Kvaerner.
Operating revenues in the third quarter 2012 amounted to NOK 2 430 million, compared with NOK 2 623 million for the third quarter 2011. EBITDA ended at NOK 109 million for the third quarter 2012, down from NOK 169 million compared to third quarter last year. The EBITDA in this quarter includes a net positive effect of NOK 42 million from divestment of the EPC Center Houston operations in July this year. The EBITDA margin for the third quarter 2012 was 4.5 percent, down from 6.4 percent in the corresponding period in 2011. In addition to the impact from the ECP Center Houston, the EBITDA reflects phasing of projects, as some projects are in the process of being finalised, and others are in an early phase prior to recognition of margin.
The company’s new dividend policy, with an ambition to pay semi-annual dividends with increases, has been implemented. On 9 October, the Extraordinary General Meeting approved a dividend of NOK 0.53 per share.
Based on the operational developments so far in 2012, Kvaerner still expects revenues for this year to be lower than what they have been historically, but as a result of developments during the third quarter, Kvaerner expects the full year EBITDA margin in the upstream segment to be within the normalised range of 5-10 percent. However, there is still a high degree of uncertainty with regards to legacy projects.
“The activity level has been high during the quarter. We have submitted tenders for several new projects and we expect to see awards in the next quarters”, says Haugan .
[mappress] Press Release, October 31, 2012