LONDON (Alliance News) - ADES International Holding Ltd on Monday reported a rise in profit and revenue for 2018, due to a higher utilisation rate and contributions from rigs newly acquired.
The Dubai-based oilfield services firm saw pretax profit rise 78% to USD79.4 million from USD44.6 million the year before, with double-digit revenue growth of 30% to USD205.6 million from USD157.6 million.
Revenue growth was largely fostered by a higher utilisation rate of 85% compared to 75% in 2017, following the completion of upgrading projects performed on jackup rigs in Saudi Arabia and Egypt.
There were also contributions from three newly acquired rigs from drilling contractor Nabors Industries, and 23 rigs acquired from Weatherford International PLC.
The number of operational rigs more than doubled in the year to 28 rigs from 12 in 2017. ADES's backlog as at the end of 2018 was USD1.2 million, more than tripled from USD427 million at the end of 2017.
Looking ahead, ADES International said it expects strong growth in 2019 on the full-year contribution from the Nabors and Weatherford acquisitions, with a backlog of USD1.5 billion as at the end of February.
"2018 was a transformational year that elevated the group to a regional champion with a good spread of tier-one IOC's and NOC's, geographies and selected markets. We executed a number of acquisitions from Nabors and Weatherford during 2018, which in combination with organic developments delivered strong revenue growth for the year," said Chief Executive Mohamed Farouk.
"These acquisitions have seen us grow our backlog threefold to USD1.2 billion at year end 2018 and enabled us to enter 2019 with significant revenue visibility," Farouk added.
Shares in ADES International were up 1.8% at USD13.95 on Monday.