Gulf Marine Services Share News (GMS)

LONDON (Alliance News) - Gulf Marine Services PLC on Tuesday swung to a annual pretax loss due to sharply higher finance costs and a challenging market environment.

The company, which provides advanced self-propelled self-elevating support vessels to the oil and gas industry, recorded a pretax loss of USD18.3 million for 2017, compared with pretax profit of USD30.8 million in the year ago period. Revenue fell to USD112.9 from USD179.4 million due to deferral of certain contracts and lower fleet utilisation levels.

Finance expenses, which includes debt modification costs, rose to USD38.9 million from USD20.2 million. Impairment charges fell to USD7.3 million from USD21.3 million.

Gulf Marine said it is well-placed to capitalise on a recovering market with its modern fleet. It has a secured backlog of USD160.6 million, including options, as at March 1.

The company has suspended its dividend payment as it believes "cash generated by the business is better utilised for the reduction of bank debt at this time".

Shares in the company were trading 2.7% higher at 38.00 pence on Tuesday.