Singapore-listed offshore marine services provider Swissco Holdings has posted a profit of USD21.87 million in the first quarter ended 31 March 2015.
The profit after income tax of USD21.87 million marked a fivefold increase compared with the profit of USD4.14 million in the first quarter of 2014.
The higher profit was aided by the company’s recorded revenue of USD19 million in first-quarter 2015, while Swissco’s gross profit was at USD9.5 million for the same period.
Swissco cited in its filing to the Singapore stock exchange (SGX) that earnings from the OSV chartering segment coupled with Swissco‘s ship repair and maritime services segment formed around USD8.1 million for 1Q15. In the meantime, the company’s drilling segment contributed around USD11 million of charter revenue in 1Q15, through long term rigs contracts of up to five years.
Meanwhile, Swissco’s other income sources surged to USD7.93 million in first-quarter 2015 compared with USD0.5 million in first-quarter 2014. The increase was due to the interest income earned from loans provided to joint ventures, gain on disposal of vessels of USD2.3 million, and foreign exchange gain of USD4.7 million arising mainly from Singapore dollar financial liabilities, because of the appreciation of the US dollar against the Singapore dollar.
Going forward, Swissco says it expects its drilling business to remain stable in 2015, because of the long-term charter contracts that the company has secured over time. The company has entered the drilling rig business after it acquired Scott and English Energy, a company that owns and leases mobile offshore drilling units and service rigs.
On the other hand, Swissco raises concerns on the charter day rates being under pressure in the face of the weaker oil and gas industry fundamentals. In the meantime, the company will focus on increasing its vessels’ utilisation rate and will also review processes to be more cost efficient. Swissco currently owns and operates 38 vessels and plans to take delivery of five more vessels in 2015.
This post was sourced from IHS Maritime 360: View the original article here.