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(Alliance News) - Gulf Marine Services PLC on Wednesday said it extended a contract for one of its vessels which is currently operating in the Middle East, alongside receiving a letter of award for a separate vessel in the region.
The provider of self-propelled and self-elevating support vessels for the offshore oil, gas, and renewable energy sectors said the two awards span a combined period of 5.2 years. Its total backlog has now reached USD373 million, which represents 2.45 times its revenue in 2023.
Given the improved visibility, Gulf Marine said it has raised its guidance for adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation in 2024 to a range of USD92 to USD100 million, from the prior range of USD87 to USD95 million.
"It confirms the continuous demand for our vessels and the improvement in day rates and backlog. This is also likely to have a positive impact not only on 2024 results but well beyond. We are hoping to revisit our 2025 Ebitda guidance in the second half of 2024," said Executive Chair Mansour Al Alami.
"Our deleveraging journey continues: we ended 2023 with net debt of USD268 million down from USD406 million in 2020, a decrease of USD138 million of which USD107 million were repaid in the last two years."
Chief Financial Officer Alex Aclimandos, meanwhile, commented: "We welcome the new awards that will help us continue to accelerate deleveraging. We will work hard to achieve the upper end of the adjusted Ebitda guidance, but we remain conscious of the daily operational challenges we will face in the coming ten months."
Shares in Gulf Marine Services were up 6.0% at 17.80 pence each in London on Wednesday at midday.
By Greg Rosenvinge, Alliance News senior reporter
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