On 3rd July PFC announced that it was trading well ahead of expectations. Not surprisingly, sp jumped but has now fallen back pretty much to the same level as before the announcement.

While perhaps not as exciting as finding the next Cairn, remember that in the goldrush days, it was rarely the prospectors who made the money, but rather the suppliers of the spades and tents and stuff - e.g. Levis if memory serves me aright.

Wow down nearly 15%!

Deutscher Bank go below 5%.

that must have given DB a nasty loss over just 10 days

DB go above 5%... this is getting monotonous );-

UBS comment today:
"On Friday, UK's Serious Fraud Office (SFO) announced it launched an investigation into Petrofac for bribery, corruption and money laundering related to the SFO's investigation of Unaoil. Unaoil is a Monaco-based firm - in spring 2016, there were media reports alleging numerous multinational companies had used Unaoil to make illegal payments to secure work. In August 2016, Petrofac announced that its own independent investigation found no evidence confirming the payment of bribes. It also confirmed that no evidence was found that any Director was aware of the alleged misconduct. Petrofac shared its findings of the investigation with the SFO and other relevant authorities. At the time, Petrofac confirmed that it engaged Unaoil for the provision of local consultancy services primarily in Kazakhstan between 2002 and 2009. The findings of the investigation were also published in its 2016 annual report. Petrofac said it is cooperating with authorities.
Although Petrofac's previous involvement with Unaoil was already in the public domain prior to the SFO's announcement, nonetheless the announcement triggered risk aversion and Petrofac shares traded down sharply, wiping out ~£400m ($500m) of market cap. To put this into context - we estimate that the single largest contract in Kazakhstan for Petrofac was for the provision of process facilities for the Kashagan project, awarded back in August 2004. Although not disclosed, we estimated at the time the contract value was in the range of $400-500m. Subsequently, there were numerous contracts in Kazakhstan for front end engineering and design and project management work. In 2008 and 2009, Petrofac disclosed revenues in Kazakhstan were $200m and $184m, respectively, accounting for ~5% of group revenue (revenues less than 2007 were included in the CIS region). From 2010 onwards, the revenues in Kazakstan were not sufficiently material for separate disclosure.
Our experience tells us that these legal matters take a long time to resolve and the potential financial impact is almost impossible to estimate from the outside as all parties are reluctant to discuss details. There could be a rebound in the shares as investors shift their focus more to improving order intake, cashflow generation and reducing capital intensity."

DB go below 5% http://www.moneyam.com/action/news/showArticle?id=5549748

Tory donor questioned by SFO over corruption claims at Petrofac

Friday 12 May 2017 17.47 BST Last modified on Friday 12 May 2017 20.16 BST
The Serious Fraud Office has launched an investigation into a company run by a major Conservative donor who is one of the prime minister’s business ambassadors.

Petrofac, which provides services to the oil and gas industry, is being investigated by the SFO over suspected bribery, corruption and money laundering.

Its chief executive, Ayman Asfari, and his wife have given the Tories more than £700,000 since 2009, with the party receiving £40,000 last December. The Syrian-born businessman has been questioned under caution by the SFO, along with another member of Petrofac’s senior management team.

Asfari is a member of the leader’s group, an elite set of donors who give the Conservative party at least £50,000 a year and are invited to join the prime minister and other senior Tories at dinners. As a business ambassador, Asfari can carry out meetings on behalf of the British government while travelling overseas and also lead trade missions.

According to the government’s website, he is entitled to hold one-to-one meetings with senior government ministers and host “high-level incoming visitors”. There are 44 business ambassadors, including Douglas Flint, the chairman of HSBC, and Natalie Massenet, the founder of fashion retailer Net-a-Porter.

The investigation is part of the SFO’s inquiry into Unaoil, a Monaco-based firm that has been accused of corruptly securing contracts for multinationals. Unaoil has denied any wrongdoing.

Petrofac employed Unaoil for consultancy work in Kazakhstan between 2002 and 2009. Unaoil was also hired to work in various parts of the world by the British engineering company Rolls-Royce, which recently admitted corruption and bribery after an SFO investigation.

A spokesman for Petrofac said the company had been notified by the SFO that the investigation had begun, adding: “The company is cooperating with the authorities.”

Petrofac had previously brought in lawyers and auditors to examine its links to Unaoil. After investigations by law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and accountants KPMG last summer, Petrofac said “no evidence was found that any director of the company was aware of the alleged misconduct”. It then shared its findings with the SFO.

An SFO spokesman confirmed it was investigating “the activities of Petrofac PLC, its subsidiaries, and their officers, employees and agents for suspected bribery, corruption and money laundering”.

Petrofac has 31 offices around the world and 13,500 staff, and operates in countries including Algeria, Iraq and Abu Dhabi. Asfari joined the company in 1991 and bought it out 10 years later, becoming chief executive in 2002. The chief operating officer, Marwan Chedid, has also been interviewed under caution by SFO investigators.

According to its website, Petrofac is focused on Africa and the Middle East. Most of its clients are national oil companies, including Saudi Aramco.

Last year, the company’s revenues were $7.9bn (£6.1bn). Petrofac’s share price fell around 15% after the SFO announced its investigation. Forbes magazine has calculated Asfari’s worth to be about $970m.

A Conservative party spokesman said: “All donations to the Conservative party are properly and transparently declared to the Electoral Commission, published by them, and comply fully with the law.”

This doesn't look good for PFC at the moment, and it's news to me that...

"Ayman Asfari, and his wife have given the Tories more than £700,000 since 2009, with the party receiving £40,000 last December. The Syrian-born businessman has been questioned under caution by the SFO, along with another member of Petrofac’s senior management team."

Edit: SP down on that news today over 15% so far!

This company is very corrupted... SELL.

Down over 22% this morning.. grim for holders at the mo.

That's what money laundering does to a company.

Correction....that's what getting caught money laundering does to a company.

I can think of a number of other high profile Co's which have come under scrutiny and survived.

Morgan Stanley comment:
We believe the market will take this negatively, as the COO has been at the company since 1992 and we consider him a fundamental component of the E&C franchise. We are concerned that his departure may have a knock-on effect on Petrofac's operational oversight and ability to secure new work.

Management changes due to the investigation were a risk, but one we did not expect to materialise so quickly. We reiterate our Underweight rating and expect this issue to continue to overhang the stock, leading to underperformance.

..Been down 33% now.

Certainly won't be surprised if it goes to 300p tomorrow.

Alf your not still in these are you?

hi stan .... fortunately i took my hit a couple of weeks ago as PFC was not showing any signs of recovery

B good job in the event.

Down another 4%.. shorters must be doing nicely on this one.

Credit Suisse today downgrades its investment rating on Petrofac Ltd (LON:PFC) to neutral (from outperform) and cut its price target to 425p (from 1125p).

Sharp downgrade... sp will continue to drop until result of SFO investigation is out.