British energy services firm John Wood Group posted earnings in line with expectations and said it was confident on future growth as oil company spend recovers which should boost performance at its engineering unit.

Earnings before interest, tax and amortisation (EBITA) fell 4 per cent to $344.8 million in 2010, the company said, compared with a consensus forecast of $337.4 million from a company-supplied poll of analysts.

Wood Group, which provides oilfield services to companies such as BP and Shell, posted a strong performance in its well support division, offset by subdued demand for large engineering projects.

The company said earlier in February it was selling its well support division, a unit which manufactures pumps, to General Electric for $2.8 billion after it decided to focus on providing engineering services.

“The lack of recovery in engineering and production facilities margin remains a concern,” said Numis Securities analyst Sanjeev Bahl.

Wood Group said it was raising its dividend by 10 per cent after proposing a final dividend of 7.6 cents to bring the full-year figure to 11 cents.

Chief executive Allister Langlands said he anticipated good growth over the next few years as bidding volumes for engineering projects rose over the year and the company continued to see high demand for its production facilities services, particularly in international markets.

After repositioning the business with the sale of the well support unit which followed the company’s acquisition of Scotland-based rival PSN in 2010, Langlands said he was happy with the current shape of the company.

“We are not looking at any major disposals going forward at this time,” he said.