Aker Solutions Posts Drop In Q3 Profit

Aker Solutions ASA reported a 24% drop in its third-quarter net profit. Aker Solutions posted a quarterly net profit of 265 million Norwegian kroner ($39.49 million), versus a year-ago profit of NOK349 million. Earnings per share declined to 0.97 krone versus 1.29 krone. Its revenue climbed 21.6% to NOK8.27 billion. Subsea business revenue rose 36% to NOK 5 billion, while Umbilicals revenue climbed 20% to NOK 585 million. Field Design segment revenue jumped to NOK 3.2 billion from NOK 2.9 billion. Engineering sales climbed 24% to NOK 851 million. Earnings before interest and taxes rose to 460 million kroner from 451 million kroner. Order intake slipped to NOK3.6 billion, versus NOK5.2 billion a year earlier. As of Sept. 30, the order backlog was NOK49 billion, compared to NOK39.4 billion a year ago. Luis Araujo, CEO, said, "We made good progress in the quarter on major subsea and engineering projects and had a near-record backlog after significant contract wins earlier this year in Angola and Brazil. This puts us in a strong position to tackle a slowdown in some market segments as oil companies delay projects amid concerns over capital."