James Fisher and Sons plc, the Barrow-in-Furness marine engineering firm, said its 2023 revenue grew 3.8% to £496.2 million, driven by 9.9% revenue growth in its energy division.

But the firm reported a loss before tax of £39.9 million compared to a 2022 profit of £14.5 million.

James Fisher said: “Reported operating loss before tax of £39.9m reflecting goodwill impairments of £28.0m (predominantly in the Defence division), restructuring charges of £5.7m and refinancing costs of £12.2m.”

James Fisher CEO Jean Vernet said: “We are now one year into our transformation programme to build a stronger, more cohesive company. 

“Despite a number of challenges early in the year, we have made good initial progress in building our leadership team, implementing our new operating model and deploying our focus and simplification agenda. 

“This includes significant progress to focus the group’s portfolio around our core as an engineering services company, operating in the Blue Economy. 

“We have divested non-core businesses, and more recently, announced the sale of RMSpumptools, which will significantly reduce our debt and create a stronger financial foundation for growth.

“I am proud of what we are achieving through Business Excellence.

“We are driving a step change in our safety culture, delivering greater efficiency through the deployment of Lean Six Sigma across our Product Lines, and we are launching a Project Management Office to improve operational execution.

“These initiatives will underpin our operational and financial performance and enable our Divisions to deliver the very best service to our customers.

“In the current financial year to date, the group’s overall performance has been in line with the boards’s expectations, building on our early-stage progress in 2023.

“Looking forward, we continue to see supportive end markets in 2024 in the majority of our businesses and would also expect to deliver further benefits from our turnaround initiatives.”