ENGINEERING and project management firm Amec yesterday welcomed excellent results, despite posting lowerthan- expected annual profits.

The firm, which has its industrial headquarters in Darlington, recorded a two per cent increase in underlying pre-tax profits to £215.6m, up from £210.3m in 2008, but falling short of City hopes of £220m.

However, chief executive Samir Brikho said: “Amec has delivered another year of excellent results in 2009.

“We believe the trading environment will remain challenging, but expect that our order pipeline will continue to improve as the year progresses.

We are currently well positioned on contracts at the early stages of the project cycle and are confident this will support future growth, building on our strong customer relationships.

“In the first quarter, we have seen signs of a pick-up in the market and we expect to win a number of sizeable new contracts for delivery later in this year and beyond.”

Amec’s natural resources division, which includes its main oil and gas services business and accounts for half of group sales, posted a one per cent fall in revenues as the division was also hampered by lower capital spending and clients squeezing on price.

Power and processing revenues fell 23 per cent to £788.1m last year, after the completion of four legacy contracts, along with delays to power projects and market conditions in the UK and US.

Revenues also fell at its environment consulting division, where weak markets were not offset by US and Canadian government stimulus spending as expected.