Abu Dhabi’s Gulf Marine Services has won a contract to deploy one of its vessels in the North Sea next year as demand from the European oil and gas industry remains strong.
With the latest contract, all 10 of the vessels in its fleet will be deployed.
The vessel will be chartered in the Dutch sector of the North Sea in the second quarter of next year for two years, with the option of an extension for a further two years. Gulf Marine Services (GMS) provides support vessels for the offshore oil, gas and renewable energy sectors.
The company, based in Mussaffah, where it builds its vessels, listed its shares in London this year.
While the company declined to disclose the contract amount and the client, its top five customers accounted for more than 45 per cent of their business at the end of last year, with a “substantial majority” of the revenues coming from Middle East and North Africa (Mena) clients such as Adnoc, Qatar Petroleum and Saudi Aramco.
At the end of last year, GMS’s largest client, Adnoc, accounted directly or indirectly for 29 per cent of its revenues, according to the company.
The market and demand in Europe for its fleet is “strong”, according to Duncan Anderson, the chief executive of GMS.
The global oilfield services market is expected to increase to $521 billion in 2018 from $354bn this year, according to consultancy Douglas-Westwood.
Technip, Europe’s largest oilfield-services provider by market value, on Thursday reported a 12 per cent decline in third-quarter profit but maintained its earnings targets for this year and next.
Lower oil prices are among reasons to “be cautious”, Technip said. Crude has dropped by a quarter since June, taking benchmark North Sea Brent down to about $87 a barrel as overproduction and lacklustre demand have filled stockpiles around the world.
GMS is in the process of adding six more vessels to its fleet by the end of 2016. The first of these, GMS Enterprise, started its four-month contract for an engineering, procurement and construction contractor working for a national oil company from the Mena region in September.
Currently operating in the Mena region and North-west Europe, GMS is looking to Southeast Asia and West Africa to expand its footprint.
It has a current project backlog of US$547 million. In the first half of the year, its net profit rose to $33.1m from $32.1m year-on-year. The initial public offering in March raised $111m.
Shares were trading at 136 pence on Thursday afternoon, up 0.74 per cent from Wednesday’s close. The shares debuted at 130 pence in March. This month, analysts at Canadian financial services company Canaccord Genuity had a “buy” rating on the stock while JP Morgan Chase had a “neutral” rating. Barclays analysts put an “overweight” rating on the stock in August.
The Dubai-based rig maker Lamprell, which is also listed in London, expects full-year earnings to be ahead of expectations after its order book grew this year.
Sharjah-based oil services company Petrofac saw net profits slide to $136m in the first half, down from $243m year on year, but this month it won orders worth $620m for work in Iraq and the North Sea.
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