The company, which provides consultancy, engineering and project management services to the world's energy, power and process industries, said in a third quarter trading update it is confident of delivering an earnings before interest, tax and amortisation EBITA margin in excess of 6.5pc this year. It has targeted an EBITA margin of 8.5 percent in 2010.
In a statement, chief executive Samir Brikho said: "Our clients remain focused on long-term fundamentals and we continue to see a strong and diverse range of attractive prospective contracts across the business."
The company has benefited as clients, including state-owned natural resources companies, power generators, and utilities, continue to spend money on major projects as they look to invest in new sources of supply, as well as maintaining existing assets.
The company also confirmed that since July 1 it had been awarded £700m worth of contracts for delivery over the next five years.
It added that it remains in a strong financial position, with average net cash of over £600m expected for 2008. The net cash figure takes account of year to date acquisitions with a total cost of £125m, as well as business disposals and share buy backs that the company has previously announced.
In the natural resources division, which includes project management activities in the Oil and Gas services sectors, there was a 12.5pc increase in the order book during the quarter, taking it to £1.35bn. This included further contracts in oil and gas services, oil sands, and metals and minerals mining. The group forward order book now stands at over £2.25bn.
Author: Jo Amey
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AMEC Believe in Optimistic Future
In a statement, chief executive Samir Brikho said: "Our clients remain focused on long-term fundamentals and we continue to see a strong and diverse range of attractive prospective contracts across the business"
