WORKERS at a North-East engineering firm have been boosted by the company posting record interim results and confident predictions that their strong performance is to continue.

The statement was further good news for Amec’s 900-strong workforce at their industrial headquarters, in Darlington, who last week celebrated the capture of a £60m gas storage contract that helped safeguard jobs at the plant.

The Darlington site has already begun construction work on the project to extend a gas storage facility in Cheshire for EDF Energy.

Amec’s impressive first-half figures are driven by a healthy order book with the firm recently winning a £220m contract from BP to develop fields in Azerbaijan, and working with Exxon Mobil Corporation, in Angola and Canada.

In the six months to June 30, Amec’s revenue increased by 13 per cent, to £1,429.5m, with the value of the company’s order book swelling by eight per cent over the same period.

As a result, Amec raised the shareholder dividend by 20 per cent, to 7.3 pence a share.

Chief executive Samir Brikho said that the company can beat its 2010 earnings before interest, tax and amortisation margin target of 8.5 per cent.

He added: “Amec has delivered a record first-half performance with improvements in each of the three divisions – natural resources, power and environmental.

“We expect this momentum to continue, building on our strong customer relationships. New contract wins and improvements in the order book signal a further strengthening in our strategic position across core sectors.

“Our balance sheet remains strong and we continue to invest in carefullytargeted acquisitions.

“The interim dividend has been increased and reflects the board’s continuing confidence in the group’s prospects.

“We see the market for our services continuing to improve.”