21 April 2011 – trading update
The group has announced that it is to issue its interim results for the six months to 2 April on 14 June. It has also revealed that results for the full financial year are likely to come in below expectations as activity in its deep water oil rigs and drillships business has not increased as quickly as expected. High margin defence sales are also likely to be lower in 2012 with the next major shipments into this market not due until 2013.
We are very disappointed with this statement and it seems likely that the shares will tread water at best in the near term. There certainly does not seem to be a compelling reason to buy in the short term. HOLD.