Oil services company TechnipFMC's saw a slump in revenue and net income in the first quarter, missing expectations but said it had returned to growth as it booked $6.2 billion in orders, the highest since the last quarter of 2014.
The company, whose clients include oil and gas majors, said revenue was at $2.913 billion, down 6.8 percent compared with the same period a year ago. Net income in the quarter tumbled 78 percent to $20.9 million, or $0.05 per diluted share.
"Weaker-than-expected activity in North America significantly impacted our quarterly results and has led to a change in the market outlook," Doug Pferdehirt, TechnipFMC's chief executive officer, said in a statement.
"We no longer anticipate the recovery in North America as originally forecasted," he added.
Adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) fell 23.5 percent to $295.8 million, while adjusted EBITDA margin was 10.2 percent.
The company that was created by a 2016 merger of France's Technip and U.S. rival FMC Technologies during the prolonged oil price slump, took a hit alongside other oil services firms as majors slashed costs and shelved projects.
"Our company has returned to growth, and we are well-positioned to benefit from the recovery underway in many of our key end-markets," Pferdehirt said.
He said that TechnipFMC's quarterly orders of $6.2 billion were its highest since the fourth quarter of 2014 as inbound orders in the quarter soared 77.4 percent.
Backlog of projects stood at $17.8 billion, up 27 percent compared with the same quarter in 2018.
"In the first four months of 2019, we have secured seven new integrated projects, representing an aggregate contract value of $1.4 billion. This expansion of our integrated portfolio includes projects from BP, Lundin, ENI and ConocoPhillips," Pferdehirt said.
(Reporting by Bate Felix; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)