Oil industry engineering and construction provider Kentz today named a new chief executive and told investors 2011 results would be slightly ahead of market expectations.
The company said that its chief operating officer Christian Brown would replace chief executive Hugh O'Donnell on February 1. He grew the group from a small Irish-based group to a $830m international player over the past 12 years.
Brown joined Kentz last year, after a 20 year career with KBR and Foster Wheeler, as part of a rash of high level appointments. Emphasising the group's continued overseas growth ambitions, Brown will be based in Houston.
The company said today that its order backlog of $2.4 billion at the end of 2011 was up 50% from December 2010, aided by new awards.
Kentz also said it expects development to continue in Russia, Australia and Canada.
