Interim Management Statement

John Wood Group PLC ("Wood Group") Interim Management Statement 9 October 2008 Wood Group, the international energy services provider, issues the following Interim Management Statement. A full year trading update will be provided on 17 December 2008. Demand for our services and products remains high, despite the significant current volatility in financial, commodity and currency markets. We believe that our oil & gas customers' major development decisions are based on their assessment of longer term oil prices, and they are committed to long term investment programmes to sustain and enhance production. In power markets, gas fired generation is taking an increasing share due to its relative environmental benefits and this is leading to increased activity in the maintenance and repair market. Trading performance for the year to date has been strong and we expect our growth to continue. Headcount has increased this year by over 3,000 to approximately 28,000 at the end of September, with the increase mainly in Engineering & Production Facilities. In Engineering & Production Facilities, there is strong demand for our engineering services, where we remain active across all areas. The key drivers for our upstream, subsea and pipeline engineering activities are the high levels of development spending by our clients; and for our downstream, process and industrial activities, it is the spend on upgrading, debottlenecking and legislative compliance programmes. Recent examples of contract awards include front end design work for the topsides, subsea flowlines and pipelines for ConocoPhillips' Ekofisk development in the Norwegian sector of the North Sea, the topsides for Hess Corporation's Pony development in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico and detailed topsides design for MODEC on the first FPSO to be installed in the Jubilee field development offshore Ghana. As part of our ongoing strategy to expand and enhance our capabilities in the fast growing subsea and deepwater markets, we acquired MCS, a global subsea engineering consultancy with a market leading position in riser & mooring design, and a leading offering of advanced engineering and software solutions to the subsea industry. In Production Facilities, our markets remain strong both in the North Sea, where we are seeing ongoing activity on tieback and production enhancement projects, and in other international locations, where there is a drive to increase efficiency of production operations. Our North Sea market position has been enhanced by our selection as duty holder for a number of North Sea fields and this new business will make a good contribution in 2009. In the period, we enhanced our capacity for future growth in the Middle East by entering into a joint venture with Consolidated Contractors Company (CCC) and we have expanded our capability in safety and emergency response training with the acquisition of M&O Global. In Well Support, our Electric Submersible Pump artificial lift activities benefit from our clients' spending to enhance and prolong production from existing oilfields. Our Pressure Control business in North America has seen robust volumes from a number of the major unconventional shale developments now being exploited, and has continued to successfully grow its business round the world. Logging Services continues to see strong demand for its services, both in the US and in Latin America. We are continuing our investment programme to increase capacity and to deliver future growth, including manufacturing investment in China and Mexico and new product development. In Gas Turbine Services, oil & gas production focused activities continue to see good demand due to high turbine running hours. Demand for power & industrial related activities also remains robust, driven by continuing good activity in the US, strong demand in Latin America and Canada, and the ongoing growth in the Eastern Hemisphere. We continue our focus on improving margins through various initiatives, including increasing the amount of revenue under longer term contracts, internal restructuring and developing new product and service capabilities. Our overall funding position remains strong, with bank facilities of around $1bn committed to July 2010. We anticipate a good working capital performance in the second half, which will drive strong operating cash flow for the year. Despite the significant current volatility in financial, commodity and currency markets, demand for our services and products remains high, trading performance for the year to date has been strong and we expect our growth to continue. Information: Wood Group 01224 851 000 Alan Semple Nick Gilman Carolyn Smith Brunswick 020 7404 5959 Patrick Handley
UK 100

Latest directors dealings