With a good dose of pessimism already baked into Amec Foster Wheeler (AMFW) shares, the market was looking for any signs of hope in interim results. Though little evidence of this could be found in the battered US oil and gas division or a narrowed trading profit margin, revenue declines were more than offset by an excellent performance from the clean energy division. And despite a cut in the interim dividend, a return to positive operating cash flow and the re-iteration of full-year guidance were enough to send the shares up by nearly 10 per cent.
When the engineering services provider completes its re-organisation and cost review in the autumn, its clean energy work may carry as much weight as traditional end-markets. Utility-scale solar project work in the US caused revenues in the division to surge 88 per cent to £942m in the period. What's more, it's probably a good idea for Amec to book as much US-based work as it can now following the devaluation of sterling, though currency swings are a double-edged sword; the 15 per cent increase in net debt to £1.08bn was in part due to the negative impact on foreign currency borrowings and derivatives.