Tecnicas Reunidas's 1Q net profit soars as business recovers

(Reuters) - Spain's Tecnicas Reunidas on Friday said its first quarter net profit sky-rocketed as the engineering and construction firm's business recovers after two years of losses.

Net profit jumped to 20.4 million euros ($22.46 million) from 1.2 million a year earlier on revenue up 45% to 1.12 billion euros.

Tecnicas Reunidas shares opened 4% higher on Friday as investors welcomed the turnaround.

The company, which specialises in designing and building petrochemical and gas infrastructures, was hit hard in 2021 and 2022 as the COVID pandemic and the war in Ukraine led to a slowdown in energy investments.

In the first quarter, Tecnicas Reunidas booked new contracts worth 1.67 billion euros, more twice as much as in the same quarter a year earlier.

Most notably, Tecnicas Reunidas signed a contract to build a LNG terminal in Germany worth 1 billion euros.

The company received a subsidised 340 million euro emergency loan last year after posting losses in 2021 and 2022.

It raised 150 million euros in April in a capital increase taking advantage of investors' interest in the energy industry.

The company confirmed its full-year guidance announced earlier this year for sales at 4.0 billion euros, down from 4.23 billion euros last year, and a core earnings margin of 4%.

($1 = 0.9084 euros)

(Reporting by Jakub Olesiuk and Matteo Allievi; editing by Inti Landauro and Jason Neely)