A UK oil and gas services firm has unveiled plans for an overseas push as part of a business overhaul.

Aberdeen-based Wood said it was looking for takeover opportunities in Angola, Brazil, Canada, Malaysia and Saudi Arabia and expected strong growth over the next few years.

Wood said the move to increase its international reach formed part of a strategy to focus on to its core engineering, production facilities support and gas turbine services.

The company recently sold its well support arm to General Electric and announced a merger with energy services group PSN.

Chief executive Allister Langlands said Wood posted a 3.9% drop in pre-tax profits for the year to December 31 to £156.8m, despite a 2.8% rise in revenues to £3.1bn.

Wood’s production arm generates 47% of its revenues from the UK North Sea, but the addition of PSN in areas such as North America and Russia will cut its dependence on the UK and offer higher margin work.

The sale of Wood’s well support arm, which makes electric submersible pumps used to maximise oil production, will raise £1.7bn. More than half of the proceeds is set to go to shareholders.