Shares in Northbridge Industrial Services (NBI) rose more than 11 per cent following a trading update assuring investors that 2014 full-year results are expected to be "substantially in line with management's expectations", despite falling oil prices.
Management at the specialist industrial equipment distribution and hire group said divisions directly servicing the oil and gas sector would be affected by the slowdown in exploration and production. But added that other parts of the business could actually benefit from a sustained lower price of oil, particularly the transformer division which includes Independent Power Project (IPP) companies among its customer base.
The price of Brent crude oil fell below $49 a barrel on Monday 12 January 2015, the lowest since April 2009.
