By Liam Moloney
ROME--Saipem SpA (SPM.MI), the Italian oil services company that
has been hit by a string of profit warnings, Tuesday said it swung
to a net loss in 2013, but predicted that it will be able to return
to a profit this year.
The Milan-based company said in a statement that the net loss
for 2013 was 159 million euros ($216.2 million), while operating
profit was EUR147 million on revenue of EUR12.3 billion.
These figures take into account the restatement of 2013 figures,
which was required by securities regulator Consob. In 2012, the
company made a net profit of EUR659 million, operating profit of
EUR1.25 billion and revenue of EUR13.1 billion. The figures for
2012 were also restated.
"2013 has been a difficult year for Saipem," said Chief
Executive Umberto Vergine. "We shall continue to focus on improving
our operational performance and increasing our order backlog with
higher-margin contracts."
The Milan-based company, in which Eni SpA (E) has a 43% stake,
forecasts a net profit of between EUR280 million and EUR380 million
in 2014 and an operating profit of between EUR600 million and
EUR750 million on revenue of between EUR12.5 billion and EUR13.6
billion.
New orders in 2013 tumbled to EUR10.7 billion from EUR13.4
billion the year before. Total order backlog was EUR176.5 billion
at the end of December.
At 1513 GMT, shares fell 1.8% at EUR16.25, giving Saipem a
market capitalization of EUR7.3 billion. The shares are
underperforming the Italian benchmark FTSE Mib index.
Write to Liam Moloney at liam.moloney@wsj.com
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