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LONDON (Alliance News) - Gulf Marine Services PLC Thursday posted a higher profit and revenue for the first-half of 2014, declared a maiden dividend and said it expects its full-year results to be in line with expectations.
The company reported a pretax profit of USD34.3 million for the six months to June 30, up from USD33.7 million a earlier, buoyed by an increase in revenue and lower finance expenses.
Revenue in the first-half rose by 5% to USD90.7 million, up from USD86.6 million in the first-half of 2013.
Gulf Marine declared a maiden dividend of 0.41 pence per share, and going forward, said it is well financed for future expansion with lower net debt of USD249.3 million and committed undrawn bank facilities of USD130 million at June 30.
It said it plans to add up to six more vessels to its fleet by the end of 2016 in response to strong customer demand and the growing market in which it operates.
"The group has achieved a good start to 2014, sustaining high levels of fleet utilisation of over 90%. The important step forward for the group is the addition of six new jackup vessels which will expand the SESV fleet by two thirds by 2016. This is progressing well and as scheduled," said Chief Executive Duncan Anderson in a statement.
Gulf Marine, which listed in London back in March, services a blue-chip client base through long-term contracts. Its the operator of one of the largest independent self-propelled Self Elevated Support Vessel or "SESV" fleets globally, with a focus on the Middle East, North Africa region and Northwest Europe. It operates a core fleet of nine SESVs, which are four-legged self-propelled vessels with a large deck space, crane capacity and accommodation facilities that can be adapted to the requirements of the company's clients.
The company said it remains optimistic about its longer-term growth and has a strong pipeline of opportunities.
"We continue to enter into value-added partnerships as appropriate. We are making good progress with our expansion plans in South East Asia with the formation of a marketing partnership in Malaysia, to focus on opportunities there," the company said in its statement.
Shares in Gulf Marine Services were trading at 154.65 pence Thursday afternoon, down 0.2%.
By Rowena Harris-Doughty; rowenaharrisdoughty@alliancenews.com; @rharrisdoughty
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