Aker Solutions ASA: MMO Capacity in Norway to be Adjusted on Continued Market Slowdown

Aker Solutions will in 2015 adjust its workforce capacity within the maintenance, modifications and operations (MMO) market in Norway after a continued decline in activity levels.

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About 300 engineering and project management employees in the Norwegian MMO business may be affected. Necessary adjustments will be made through normal employee turnover, reassignments to other parts of the company and dismissals. As previously communicated, an additional 70 MMO employees may be temporarily laid off in central Norway. Aker Solutions still sees good opportunities for the MMO business outside Norway.

"Activity in the MMO market in Norway has dropped considerably since last summer, causing overcapacity," said Per Harald Kongelf, head of Aker Solutions in Norway. "As we see it today, these challenges will continue through 2015 and possibly also into 2016."

Aker Solutions experiences generally robust demand for its products and services, particularly in the subsea and deepwater segments. The company's order backlog rose to NOK 48.3 billion in 2014 from NOK 41.2 billion a year earlier, helped by subsea contracts in countries such as Brazil and Angola, as well as MMO orders in the UK. Aker Solutions in January also won a five-year contract worth NOK 4.5 billion from Statoil to provide engineering, procurement and management assistance services at the Johan Sverdrup development. The contract is part of a 10-year framework agreement and came after Statoil exercised an option.

Aker Solutions has about 8,300 own employees working within subsea and field design in Norway. Approximately 4,300 of these are MMO employees.