Shares in John Wood Group rose sharply yesterday after the engineering consultancy said that it had maintained profit margins and planned to cut its debt further even though the oil price downturn and the pandemic had led to a near 15 per cent fall in revenue. The interim results showed a profit before tax of $900,000, compared with $62.2 million in the first half of 2019. However its underlying operating profit of $101 million was ahead of market expectations. The company improved margins in two of its three main divisions and said that it was hopeful of further improvements as the full impact of cost savings come through. Robin Watson, chief executive, said: “It is pleasing to

Source: The Times August 18, 2020 11:12 UTC