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LONDON (Alliance News) - James Fisher & Sons PLC on Tuesday said it appointed the chief innovation & digital officer at Halma PLC as an independent non-executive director, while also reporting double-digit revenue and profit growth in 2018.
The company said Inken Braunschmidt will join on Friday. She had been a member of executive board of FTSE 100 safety technology firm Halma since 2017. Prior to that, Braunschmidt spent 13 years at energy giant RWE AG in various roles.
Meanwhile, David Moorhouse will retire on Thursday, having served as a non-executive director for James Fisher since August 2013.
Earlier on Tuesday, the marine services provider reported 17% growth in pretax profit to GBP55.4 million in 2018 from GBP47.3 million in 2017, as revenue increase by 13% to GBP561.5 million from GBP499.3 million.
James Fisher declared a total dividend of 31.6 pence, up 10% from 28.7p paid the year prior.
On a divisional basis, revenue in Marine Support segment was 18% higher at GBP279.7 million, driven by strong organic growth from across all the sectors in which the division operates.
The Specialist Technical unit saw revenue growth of 6.6% to GBP159.6 million in 2018, supported by the assembly and delivery to schedule of two submarine rescue vessels.
The Offshore Oil division increased revenue by 11% to GBP61.5 million, mainly due to market share gains in RMSpumptools, an artificial lift completion technology business, where demand for products increased.
In addition, the Tankships unit reported another strong year with revenue up 6.9% to GBP60.7 million on improved vessel operating efficiencies and the additional capacity.
"James Fisher performed well in 2018 and, with a strong pipeline of opportunities at the start of 2019, the board has a high degree of confidence for the year ahead," said Chief Executive Nick Henry.
James Fisher shares were trading 5.5% higher on Tuesday at 1,909.80 pence each.