3 Feb 2015 07:00
3 February 2015
Northbridge Industrial Services Plc
("Northbridge" or the "Group")
Pre-Close Trading Update
Northbridge, the industrial services and rental company, is pleased to issue the following pre-close trading statement in advance of its preliminary results announcement for the year ended 31 December 2014, which is scheduled to be released during the week commencing 13 April 2015.
Having reported a good start to 2014, Northbridge achieved notable equipment sales during the year with overall good rental revenue, strong cash generation and continued investment into the hire fleet.
The acquisition of Tasman Oil Tools in New Zealand last year, which has now been fully integrated, is performing as expected. As a result of this acquisition we have been able to re-unify the name of "Tasman Oil Tools" in Australia and New Zealand and also incorporate our Middle East oil tool rental division under the same name. The combined entities, now all trading as "Tasman", have a substantial presence in their markets.
As reported on 12 January 2015, the fall in the price of oil has, so far, had a limited adverse impact on recent trading, but it is still too early to precisely quantify the long term effect on those parts of the Group directly servicing this sector. Nevertheless, rental revenue visibility for this sector in 2015 is noticeably lower than at the same time last year.
Tasman, the division of Northbridge most directly associated with the oil industry, provides its customers with equipment for oil, gas, liquid natural gas (LNG) and coal bed methane (CBM) exploration and production in the Asia Pacific and Middle East regions, and also provides equipment to the geo thermal power utilities in New Zealand where demand is unrelated to the price of oil. It does not operate in North and South America or the North Sea where the costs of production are frequently higher.
The Group's other main subsidiary, Crestchic Ltd, which sells and rents load testing equipment for commissioning, proving and servicing the independent power sector, has some customers who provide services to the oil and gas industry, most notably shipyards in SE Asia, however this work is only likely to be tangentially affected by a significant long term reduction in the oil price.
Although it is likely to take some time to show through, other businesses within the Northbridge portfolio may benefit from a sustained lower oil price: in particular, the transformer rental activity, which is focused towards the Independent Power Projects (IPP) industry and those parts of our loadbank business which are focused towards power reliability. Both businesses, after a period of continuing investment into the hire fleet and complementary acquisitions, are well placed to support these sectors in the UK, Europe and USA and other areas where power reliability is critical.
Whilst it is still too early to assess any longer term impact on the Group from reduced prices and capital investment within the oil and gas industry, given the reduced revenue visibility and the continued nervousness within some of the markets in which Northbridge operates, the Board have taken a more prudent approach to their forecasts for 2015 and now expect the outcome to be moderately lower than their previous expectations. However, the Group expects results for 2014 to be substantially in line with management's expectations.
Commenting on trading, Eric Hook, Chief Executive Officer of Northbridge, said:
"The acquisition and investment into the Group's hire fleet has continued and has strengthened our successful global business. We remain committed to our stated strategy of organic and acquisitive growth and are well placed to capitalise on opportunities as they arise in our targeted markets. Although there is some uncertainty driven by the recent fall in crude oil prices, we will continue to focus on capital management and investing in our core businesses and we remain confident in the Groups' prospects for the future."
For further information
Northbridge Industrial Services plc 01283 531645
Eric Hook, Chief Executive Officer
Craig Robinson, Finance Director
Westhouse Securities Limited (Nominated Adviser and Broker) 020 7601 6100
Robert Finlay / Antonio Bossi / Henry Willcocks
Buchanan 020 7466 5000
Charles Ryland / Stephanie Watson
About Northbridge:
Northbridge Industrial Services plc hires and sells specialist industrial equipment to a non-cyclical customer base. With offices or agents in the UK, US, Dubai, Belgium, Germany, France, Australia, Singapore, India, Brazil, Korea and Azerbaijan, Northbridge has a global customer base. This includes utility companies, the oil and gas sector, shipping, construction and the public sector. The product range includes loadbanks, transformers, and oil tools. Northbridge was admitted to AIM in 2006 since when it has recorded increased earnings and dividends based on providing a high level of service, responsiveness and flexibility to customers. It has grown by the acquisition of companies in the UK, Dubai, Azerbaijan, Australia, Belgium, Singapore and New Zealand and through investing further in those acquired companies to make them more successful. Northbridge continues to seek suitable businesses for acquisition across the world.