UAE-based offshore fabrication and refurbishment firm Lamprell has doubled its first half revenue year on year to $ 383.6 million from $189.3 million for the first six months of 2010, on the back of strong work volumes and increased investment by rig operators buoyed by high oil prices.
Lamprell had a busy six months, working on 26 rigs at its Hamriyah and Sharjah yards over the period, performance set to continue as the firm reported a $869 order book with a bid pipeline of $4.7 billion.
Profit margins were depressed by the one-off charges and costs of acquiring Sharjah neighbour MIS, which saw net profit drop to $18.6 million, a year-on-year reduction of 53.1%.
Excluding the MIS costs, the company’s net profit of $27.0 million represents a 39.9% year-on-year profit hike.
As reported in an interview with CEO Nigel McCue in this month’s edition of Oil & Gas Middle East, the acquisition of MIS gives Lamprell a hugely improved engineering offering, increases rig building and servicing capacity, and will expand the company’s reach into new revenue streams regionally.
In a company statement, McCue said “the acquisition of MIS, completed in July, is a transformational step for the Group. The complementary businesses, expanded regional footprint, and enhanced capacity, resources and expertise that the acquisition offers positions the business well for profitable growth.”
MIS also reported its interim results, posting a reduction in revenue to $122.3 million from $190.5 million in H1 2010, and only just making a profit after seeing the delivery of a key project delayed to the second half of the year.
Profit from the first half of the year was $1.5 million, from $16.3 million for the previous six months. In contrast to Lamprell, MIS’s rig refurbishment unit made a negative contribution of $8.9 million in the period. The firm took no new build orders in the last quarter.
However, MIS’s non-new-build backlog increased 29% over the last three months.
