News: Australian engineering firm WorleyParsons swings to H1 loss, shares slide

SYDNEY, Feb 20 (Reuters) - Australian engineering contractor WorleyParsons Ltd (WOR) on Monday posted its first ever interim net loss due to declining sales, restructuring charges and late-paying government clients, sending its shares on their biggest decline in nine months.

The company posted a net loss of A$2.4 million ($1.8 million) for the six months to Dec. 31, 2016, from a A$23.1 million net profit in the prior first-half, and the company declared no dividend.

Revenue fell to A$2.7 billion from A$4.2 billion, a result Chief Executive Officer Andrew Wood said was "in line with market conditions and comparable with our peers in our market sectors".

The company said the bottom line was impacted by late payments from four unspecified state government-owned companies, which helped blow out net debt by A$230 million to A$920 million.

"Our performance has been disappointing," finance managing director Tom Honan said on an analyst call. He added that the company has "action plans" to recoup the debts from each of those companies.

WorleyParsons shares fell 12 percent in morning trading, their biggest single-day decline since May 2016, while the broader Australian market was down 0.3 percent.

Australia's mining contractors have been hit by a downturn in the prices of iron ore and other major commodities which has seen major resources firms curb spending.

($1 = 1.3034 Australian dollars)