Harland & Wolff slashes expected revenues for 2022

The shipyard owner said it now expects to book full year revenues of £29m-£31m compared to September's forecast of £65m-£75m

Belfast shipyard owner Harland and Wolff has slashed its expected revenues for 2022 across its yards.

It said supply chain problems have delayed work on some contracts.

It now expects to book full year revenues of £29m-£31m compared to September's forecast of £65m-£75m.

Chief executive John Wood said it was "disappointing that we have not met our aspirations due to timing issues".

However, he said he was confident deferred revenue would start getting booked in the first half of 2023.

Aside from Belfast, Harland and Wolff operates yards at Appledore in the west of England and at Methil and Arnish in Scotland.

The company said one of the affected contracts was a refurbishment project for the Lithuanian Navy being carried out at Appledore.

It added that it had been unable to "undertake certain key work streams" during the final quarter of the year due primarily to a lack of material and specialist parts which have been impacted by global supply chain issues.

It said the the overall project is still on track.

'Negotiating and reaching settlement'

Meanwhile, it has confirmed that it has mutually ended a contract to produce four wind turbine "jackets" for the Italian company Saipem.

That work which was being undertaken at Methil had suffered a series of problems.

The company says it has started the process of "negotiating and reaching a mutually acceptable commercial settlement" with Saipem.

In November, a consortium which includes Harland and Wolff was selected as the preferred bidder to build three Royal Navy support ships

In November, a consortium which includes Harland and Wolff was selected as the preferred bidder to build three Royal Navy support ships.

The £1.6bn Ministry of Defence contract is still subject to final Treasury and ministerial approval which is expected early next year.

The contract is expected to create 1,200 jobs at UK shipyards, 900 of which are believed to be in Belfast.

Harland and Wolff last built a ship in 2003 when the Anvil Point was launched.