Wood Group sees good trading momentum, Amec integration ahead of schedule

(Reuters) - British oilfield services firm Wood Group Plc (WG.L) said on Friday it saw good trading momentum in the first quarter and its integration of Amec Foster Wheeler was ahead of schedule, sending its shares surging as much as 7.3 percent.

Wood Group, which maintained its full-year outlook, said it expected to deliver cost savings of above $50 million in 2018, and that it was confident of recognising at least $170 million in synergies by the end of the third year after integration.

Wood Group agreed to buy rival Amec Foster Wheeler in March last year for 2.2 billion pounds ($2.7 billion at that time).

The Aberdeen-based company said it secured work on multi-year contracts worth more than $300 million and made good progress on revenue synergies.

The company expects to deliver revenue and earnings growth in 2018 and said it was confident of delivering core earnings in line with market expectations.

Wood Group also said it was working on deleveraging its debt after the Amec deal, by reducing costs and selling assets.

It is currently focusing on disposing EthosEnergy, which it believes will contribute significantly to the disposal target of at least $200 million, the company said.

(Reporting by Sangameswaran S in Bengaluru; Editing by Gopakumar Warrier)