- Aker Solutions (OTCPK:AKKVF) plans to boost margins at its subsea unit by as much as two-thirds within two to five years after splitting the company, raising margins to the same level as its biggest competitors, CEO Luis Araujo tells Bloomberg.
- That would require Aker to improve the margin on EBIT at its subsea unit by 68% from Q2 if it is to match the 14.6% reported by FMC Technologies (NYSE:FTI) compared with 8.7% for Aker's subsea unit; Cameron’s (NYSE:CAM) drilling and productions systems unit reported an EBIT margin of 12.3% in the quarter.
- Aker's decision to split to cut costs and focus on its flagship subsea division as it seeks to improve returns that have lagged competitors comes as oil service companies face a slowdown in investments from energy producers, including Statoil (STO), Aker's biggest customer.