Wood Group cuts wages of UK oil contractors

LONDON (Reuters) - Oil services provider Wood Group (WG.L) said on Friday it would cut the wages of around 200 British contractors by nine percent, the company's third reduction of contractor pay in nearly two years as weak oil prices have weighed on revenue.

The pay cut applies to a third of around 600 UK-based contractors employed by Wood Group PSN, a subsidiary which specialises in oil field commissioning, maintenance and construction work, the company said.

"We believe it is the right (decision) to proactively meet the continuing cost and resourcing challenges affecting the UK North Sea oil and gas sector," said James Crawford, WGPSN's UK and Africa managing director, in a statement.

The latest contractor rate cut follows two 10 percent wage reductions in December and May 2014.

Wood Group, which will publish full-year earnings on Tuesday, reported a 7.4 percent fall in core profits in the first half of 2015 as its oil company clients have reduced spending amid a 70 percent fall in crude prices since mid-2014.

(Reporting by Karolin Schaps; editing by Adrian Croft)