Petrofac’s chief executive has said that he expects an insider trading fine to be overturned within months.
Ayman Asfari, a Conservative Party donor, made more than €300,000 in December 2012 by betting on a share price fall at Saipem, an Italian rival, hours before the shock resignation of Pietro Franco Tali, its chief executive, over a corruption inquiry.
Mr Asfari has strenuously denied any wrongdoing, but was ordered to pay more than €600,000 by Consob, the Italian regulator, last year after it concluded that he had received a tip-off from Mr Tali.
Petrofac, founded in Texas in 1981, designs, builds, operates and maintains oil and gas installations in 29 countries. It also holds direct stakes in oil and gasfields. In its most recent financial year,