Barrow-in-Furness energy, defence and maritime transport engineering firm James Fisher and Sons plc published an update on trading for the six months ended June 30, 2026, showing revenue of £190 million, with strong trading in defence and maritime transport offsetting softer activity in energy.
The firm reported underlying operating profit (UOP) of around £13 million.
“The Defence Division delivered year on year growth and improved profitability across submarine escape and rescue, military diving and tactical delivery vehicles,” said James Fisher.
“The Division remains focused on scaling the business efficiently. The new product development programme is on track to support sustainable medium-term growth.
“Maritime Transport performed well, with Tankships achieving high vessel utilisation across the fleet, and taking delivery of three of its four newbuild vessels while Fendercare experienced strong demand for ship-to-ship transfers.
“The Energy Division experienced challenging market conditions leading to lower activity and delays in certain shorter-cycle and project-based work. Decommissioning and well testing activity saw weaker conditions.
“The delays and cancellation in Offshore Wind construction projects impacted Bubble Curtain. A recovery of oil and gas activity is anticipated in 2027, although the timing remains subject to geopolitical developments and broader market conditions.”
In its outlook, the firm said: “Overall, the board’s expectations for the full year remain unchanged. Defence and Maritime Transport are expected to perform ahead of the group’s previous expectations for the year, while Energy remains subject to the uncertainty arising from the conflict in the Middle East, and the timing of customer activity and scheduled projects.”
CEO Jean Vernet said: “Our end markets are underpinned by significant long term structural drivers and have remained largely supportive in the first half, despite heightened geopolitical volatility and short-term uncertainty affecting upstream energy activity.
“We remain focused on delivering our strategic objectives and are seeing emerging service opportunities that support energy security. At the same time, we are expanding our presence in attractive growth markets, such as North America, Continental Europe and the Indo Pacific region, while continuing to invest in innovation and enhance our product offering.
“Overall, the board remains confident in the group’s ability to continue building towards its medium-term financial targets of 10% underlying operating margin and 15% ROCE.”