Ground engineering contractor Fugro has reported a pre-tax loss of £8.2m for 2022, despite a 35 per cent spike in turnover.
The loss, included in the firm’s accounts for the year to 31 December 2022, represents a drop of more than 300 per cent compared with Fugro’s pre-tax profit of £3.9m in 2021.
The firm’s turnover rose from £120.8m in 2021 to £163.1m in 2022. But its cost of sales was also substantially higher, at £149.7m compared with £96.4m the previous year.
Fugro, which works in industries including energy, infrastructure and water, was the UK’s number-two ground engineering contractor in Construction News’ 2022 Specialist Index.
Its work includes ground investigation and foundation design, environmental monitoring and laboratory analysis.
In 2022 it had an average of 679 employees, compared with 473 in the previous year.
In the strategic report accompanying the accounts, company directors said that the offshore oil and gas services market continued “at modest levels of recovery from the prior lows” throughout much of 2022, while other markets such as offshore renewables “continued at the same high levels previously experienced”.
The report added that as the company serves the global oil and gas sector, “revenues are directly affected by global energy prices”. It noted: “Capital investment by the [sector’s] operators and developers did continue through 2022 and [is] increasing modestly.”
But in recent years, an “increasing proportion” of the company’s revenue has come from the offshore renewable energy market.
“Investment in offshore renewables… grew quickly through 2022 and is forecast to continue in 2023,” the strategic report stated.
Fugro’s recent projects included carrying out investigations and analysis for the planned Keadby 3 carbon capture power station in North Lincolnshire, and analysing risks associated with trees and vegetation for Network Rail Scotland.