Wood Group sells stakes in joint ventures for £21m

Wood Group has sold stakes in several joint ventures for around 28 million US dollars (£21.3 million) as part of its ongoing asset disposal programme.

The energy services company said the disposals include a 25% stake in RMS A13 Holdings, a UK roadway project, a 52% share in Power Machinery, a China-based manufacturing facility, and a 42% holding in Centro Energia Teverola and Ferrara, two Italy-based gas power plants.

The FTSE 100-listed company also recently completed a sale of a 50% stake in the Voreas wind farm joint venture in Italy, with proceeds of around 26 million dollars (£19.7 million) received last month.

The sales are part of Wood Group’s strategy to sell non-core assets in order to reduce its debt with the programme on course to generate over 200 million dollars (£152 million) for the firm.

The four joint ventures were expected to make 8 million dollars (£6 million) for the group in 2019 and the company said its holding in RMS A13 carried with it “significant” capital commitments and an ongoing cost of around 5 million dollars (£3.8 million).

Chief executive David Kemp said: “Together, these transactions generate cash proceeds of around 54 million dollars and make a good contribution to our non-core asset disposal programme, which is a key element of our deleveraging plan.

“Our asset disposal programme is ongoing and remains on track to generate over 200 million dollars of proceeds.”

Wood Group operates in more than 60 countries, employing around 60,000 people and generates revenue of around 10 billion dollars (£7.6 billion).