Oil services company Petrofac has raised its full-year profits guidance thanks to higher oil prices and a strong order book.
While many of its rivals face a profits squeeze, the Aberdeen, UK-based firm is expecting a record year.
Petrofac, which is the UKÔÇÖs biggest listed oil services company, said back in October it expected an earnings growth of at least 20 per cent year-on-year.
Last night, however, it said that profits would grow to at least $330 million (Ôé¼229 million) which would represent a 25 per cent year-on-year increase.
The companyÔÇÖs activities range from designing and building oil and gas infrastructure to safety training.
Much of the profit represents the fulfilment of long-term contracts signed before the onset of the global financial crisis; however it has also won more than $6 billion (Ôé¼4.1 billion) of new contracts over the course of the year.
New contract wins from BP and Apache in the North Sea have added to the companyÔÇÖs business in the Middle East, where its joint venture, Petrofac Emirates, carries out oil and gas projects in Abu Dhabi and Dubai.
The company has been particularly helped by its national oil company clients such as Dubai Petroleum, whose annual capital spending does not necessarily depend on the current oil price.
Petrofac manages all of the emirate's offshore oil and gas production under its contract with the state-owned company.
Ayman Asfari, group chief executive of Petrofac, commented: ÔÇ£In a year that has been very challenging for the oil and gas service industry we are delighted with our performance and the record revenue and profits we expect to deliver.ÔÇØHe continued: ÔÇ£Our strong performance has enabled us to continue to invest in the business both in terms of systems but, most importantly, in our people and I am pleased that we have been able to attract further high calibre personnel to Petrofac.
ÔÇ£We look forward to the coming year with considerable confidence.ÔÇØ
Petrofac expects its cash balance at the end of this year to be $1.2 billion (Ôé¼832 million)ÔÇöa steep rise from its balance of $694 million (Ôé¼481 million) at the end of 2008.
Next year the company will continue to bid for new contracts, with bidding activity particularly high in Abu Dhabi, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and North Africa.
Shares in Petrofac have almost tripled in value this year.
Many of PetrofacÔÇÖs rivals, including companies such as Wellstream and Lamprell, have suffered falling backlogs and delays to contracts.
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