Wednesday, January 13, 2010

WHOOPS FOR WORLEY

Concern over China’s tightening of finance and a revised downward profit forecast caused shares in a company involved in the three NT SIHIP alliances , Worley Parsons , to drop by almost 12 percent on the ASX today. The company is one of the world’s largest consulting and engineering design firms , providing services to power, hydrocarbon, minerals and metal companies.

The revised profit outlook- $280million to $320million - was attributed to the US economy , the power industry in particular , uncertainty about carbon charges and the increasing value of the Australian dollar . A recent Brazilian acquisition did not contribute to the income stream as expected. The previous forecast had been in the range of $320million to $335million . Shares dropped by $3.36 at one stage , down to $25.99, with predictions they would dip below $25. The market saw traders sell down the entire engineering services sector .

With a global staff of 31,700 as of February last year ,Worley Parsons cut about 30 of its resources and engineering services Australian staff in March.

It is interesting to note that Worley Parsons won a contract to build a nuclear power plant in Armenia, producing 1000 to 1200 megawatts , to replace by 2016 an old Soviet era one which supplies 40 percent of the nation’s electricity.


Involved in many aspects of Territory development , including work for the Darwin City Council, it was responsible for the Bayu Undan gas project ,said to be the world’s largest open water float over installation , for Phillips Petroleum, in the Timor Sea, 500km from Darwin.