Subsea7 in profit surge

Friday, 04 November 2011 14:04

Strong activity off West Africa help Subsea7 benefit in the third quarter

The company battled soaring costs, margin pressures and project delays to post the strong result as revenues almost trebled.

Net profit for the three months to the end of September hit $172.8mn as against $64.4mn in the comparable period a year earlier.

Revenues ballooned from $495.1mn to $1.43bn as activity off West Africa surged and the company reported good vessel utilisation in the North Sea. There was also a strong performance in waters off Norway and Brazil.

Operating expenses did, however, soar from $379.5mn to $1.19bn with Subsea7 experiencing margin pressure on contracts awarded last year as well as project delays in the North Sea.

Looking ahead, the company warned of lower operations in West Africa next year as well as continued impact from dry-dockings.

On the plus side margins on North Sea projects are set to improve while the competitive Gulf of Mexico market should yield more contracts with Brazil chipping in more pre-salt and deep-water opportunities.

Subsea7’s order backlog at the end of September stood at $7.9bn, $1.3bn of which is set for completion before the year end and $3.4 billion in 2012