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 (NYSE:STO), Aker's biggest customer.