UAE fabricator Lamprell is likely to book a $71m net loss for 2018 due partly to no “margin contribution” from its work supplying jacket foundations to ScottishPower Renewables’ 714MW East Anglia 1 wind farm off east England.
The company said in a pre-close trading statement it has “actively managed” and allocated “additional resources” to subcontractor Harland and Wolff in the UK, which is assembling 18 jackets for the project.
This has helped “ensure overall project performance stays in line with the previously announced guidance”, said Lamprell, which has shipped a further 42 foundations for the project.
“The forecasted project completion remains on track to meet the installation campaign set by ScottishPower Renewables.” EA1 is due online in 2020.
The company also blamed other “margin pressures” for the slipping into the red for the year. Revenue for 2018 was around $235m.
Lamprell has meanwhile swelled its order backlog to $540m at end-December, up from $61.7m in the first half of 2018, thanks in part to the $200m-plus deal with GeoSea to supply 48 foundations for the 950MW Moray East wind farm off Scotland.
Revenue for 2019 is forecast to hit between $250-400m.
“Despite the challenges of the market environment in 2018, we have delivered against the objectives that we set out earlier in the year,” said chief executive Christopher McDonald.
“We finished the year with a major renewables project added to our order book and two new build jack-up rigs committed for construction at Lamprell’s yards in the UAE.”
The company is meanwhile bidding on work worth $6.8bn including in renewables as well as oil and gas jobs.
“Whilst the market continues to be highly competitive, we remain focussed on converting our pipeline of opportunities into contract wins, executing them successfully and continuing to make progress towards our strategic objectives,” said Lamprell.