Finnish engine maker Wärtsilä reported a 14 percent rise in quarterly order intake as it expects more growth opportunities in 2018, mainly in the company’s service business.

Wärtsilä’s bookings of new orders in the fourth quarter rose to 1.51 billion euros ($1.87 billion). For the full-year of 2017, order intake increased 15 percent to 5.64 billion euros.

The Finnish LNG specialist said in a statement on Wednesday its quarterly sales dropped 7 percent to 1.44 billion euros, while full-year sales declined 3 percent to 4.92 billion euros.

The company expects demand for its services and solutions in 2018 to “improve somewhat” from the previous year.

The market demand had improved for its marine solution business but “the marine market environment remains challenging due to overcapacity and lack of financing,” it said.

“We continue to see growth opportunities in our service business, based on our portfolio of long-term agreements and the increasing technological sophistication of our installed base,” said chief executive Jaakko Eskola.

“The demand for our energy solutions is anticipated to be at a good level, supported by a healthy project pipeline and favourable market trends. Market conditions are expected to improve in the marine industry, thus supporting a solid demand outlook,” added Eskola.

LNG World News Staff