Acergy, which supplies engineering and construction services to the oil and gas industry, said the short-term outlook for its markets was unclear but its longer-term prospects were healthy.

"We remain on course to deliver results for the year in line with expectations," chief executive Jean Cahuzac said today.

The headline profit figure compared with an average forecast for $56 million in a Reuters poll of 12 analyst and with $131 million this time last year.

Acergy shares rose as much as 8.3% and were up 5.2% at Nkr67.23 at 1242 GMT, beating a gain of 1.7% in the Oslo bourse benchmark index.

"The results were much stronger than expected," said Eric Toenne, an analyst at Arctic Securities to Reuters.

"The margin of 21.5% for the quarter was strong compared to my expectation and the consensus view and is strong in the current market."

The company, whose margin was 23.1% a year ago, said its backlog of orders reached $2.4 billion at the end of May, down from $3.4 at the same time last year but also above expectations.

"The medium-term market fundamentals remain strong," it said in a statement.

"As demand growth returns, and with field depletion increasing, the need to access new reserves and replenish production will return our markets to growth."

Second-quarter revenue fell 25% to $526 million.

Source: Upstream

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