Technip raises dividend, sticks to targets

PARIS: French oil services group Technip said it would raise its dividend by 8 percent as it reported a 20.6 per cent increase in adjusted core profit for the fourth quarter, defying a sector slowdown brought on by the falling oil price.

Technip said its adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose to 319.2 million euros ($364 million), giving an EBITDA margin of 11.3 per cent, up from 10.7 per cent in the same quarter a year ago.

Net profit fell 40.4 per cent to 80.1 million euros, while revenue rose 13.7 per cent to 2.816 billion euros, the company said in a statement on Wednesday.

"Despite the difficult markets, we see continued order intake opportunities in many of our businesses," Chief Executive Thierry Pilenko said, sticking to the group's 2015 targets.

Analysts had expected net profit of 136.6 million euros, EBITDA of 279.3 million and revenue of 2.65 billion on average, according to a poll.

Technip proposed to raise the dividend to 2 euros per share, with the option of a scrip dividend with a 10 per cent discount.

The oil services sector is feeling the effects of capital spending cuts by oil majors, which follow the more than 50 percent drop in crude prices, making life harder for equipment and service suppliers worldwide.