H1 statutory loss 983 mln usd vs 27 mln loss (Il Sole 24 Ore Radiocor) - London, 20 Aug - The UK engineering and consulting group John Wood said that in the first half group revenue fell 4.8% to 2.844 billion dollars with good growth from Operations offset by lower revenue in Projects due to lower pass-through activity as the company shifted away from EPC work and weakness in the minerals business.

Revenue fell 2% excluding pass-through revenue.

The order book rose 3.6% to 6.209 billion dollars.

Adjusted EBITDA rose 8.5% to 219 million dollars for a margin of 7.7% from 6.8% reflecting both pricing and the change in revenue mix with less pass-through activity and large-scale EPC work.

Adjusted EBIT rose 14.2% to 102 million dollars and adjusted diluted earnings per share were 2.5 cents from 1.1 cents.

On a statutory basis, the group made an operating loss of 899 million dollars in the period from a profit of 23 million the prior year reflecting 815 million in impairment of goodwill and 140 million of charges related to the exit of LSTK and the large-scale EPC business.

The loss for the period was 983 million dollars from a loss of 27 million a year ago.

The group generated 51 million in adjusted operating cash flow in the period despite the typical first half working capital outflow in its business. Wood expects adjusted operating cash flow to be stronger in the second half. The free cash outflow of 168 million includes 75 million of exceptional cash costs. Wood expects exceptional cash costs for the full year to be around 125 million.

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(RADIOCOR) 20-08-24 08:28:14 (0159) 5 NNNN