TIDMGMS
RNS Number : 0141X
Gulf Marine Services PLC
21 November 2017
Gulf Marine Services PLC
('Gulf Marine Services', 'GMS', 'the Company' or 'the
Group')
OPERATIONAL UPDATE
Gulf Marine Services (LSE: GMS), the leading provider of
advanced self-propelled self-elevating support vessels (SESVs)
serving the offshore oil, gas and renewable energy sectors,
provides the following operational update for the period 1 July to
20 November 2017.
Levels of tender activity for all GMS vessel classes are
improving in the oil and gas sector in the Middle East, although
the precise timing of contract awards will continue to be dependent
on clients' own operational requirements. The continued development
of the offshore renewables industry in Europe should also help
future demand for the Group's fleet.
The Group continues to focus on maximising vessel utilisation1.
The Large and Mid-Size Class vessels have achieved a utilisation
level of 74% for the nine-month period to the end of Q3 2017.
Utilisation for the combined fleet was 55% for the same period. The
secured backlog2 (including options) as at 31 October 2017 was US$
171.9 million (31 October 2016: US$ 137.3 million).
At 31 October 2017, the Group had net debt (being bank
borrowings less cash) of US$ 381.3 million (31 October 2016: US$
363.7 million) together with undrawn bank facilities of US$ 50.0
million. Total borrowings were reduced in August 2017 by US$ 38.8
million following the return of a leased Small Class vessel.
Underlying trading remains in line with expectations for 2017.
Duncan Anderson, Chief Executive Officer of GMS, said:
"We are particularly encouraged by the improvements in levels of
tender activity for all our vessel classes in our core markets in
the Middle East. The return of the renewables market in Europe also
bodes well for the future. The demand for our Large and Mid-Size
Class SESVs is especially pleasing. We already have contracts in
place so that by Q2 2018 six out of seven of these vessels will be
on hire and we believe the remaining vessel will be chartered in
due course. Preparations are well underway for a busy first quarter
of mobilisations next year. We are also seeing a rise in tendering
for our Small Class SESVs and are confident utilisation will
increase for these vessels as the market improves.
"Our SESV fleet is one of the youngest and most technologically
advanced in the world and we are well-positioned to capitalise on
the strengthening market environment and improving oil price."
- Ends -
(1) Utilisation is defined as the percentage of available days
in a relevant period during which an SESV is under contract and in
respect of which a customer is paying a day rate for the charter of
the SESV.
2 Secured backlog consists of firm contracts and options held by
clients.
Enquiries
For further information please contact:
Gulf Marine Services PLC
Duncan Anderson Brunswick
John Brown Patrick Handley - UK
Tel: +971 (2) 5028888 Will Medvei - UK
Anne Toomey Tel: +44 (0) 20 7404 5959
Tel: +44 (0) 1296 622736 Jade Mamarbachi - UAE
Tel: +971 (0) 50 600 3829
Notes to Editors:
Gulf Marine Services PLC, a company listed on the London Stock
Exchange, was founded in Abu Dhabi in 1977 and has become the
leading provider of advanced self-propelled self-elevating support
vessels (SESVs) in the world. The fleet serves the oil, gas and
renewable energy industries from its offices in the United Arab
Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia and the United Kingdom. The
Group's assets are capable of serving clients' requirements across
the globe, including the Middle East, South East Asia, West Africa
and Europe.
The GMS SESV fleet of 14 vessels is amongst the youngest in the
industry, with an average age of eight years. The vessels support
GMS' clients in a broad range of offshore oil and gas platform
refurbishment and maintenance activities, well intervention work
and offshore wind turbine maintenance work (which are opex-led
activities), as well as offshore oil and gas platform installation
and decommissioning and offshore wind turbine installation (which
are capex-led activities).
The SESVs are four-legged vessels and are self-propelled, which
means they do not require tugs or similar support vessels for moves
between locations in the field; this makes them significantly more
cost-effective and time-efficient than conventional offshore
support vessels without self-propulsion. They have a large deck
space, crane capacity and accommodation facilities that can be
adapted to the requirements of the Group's clients. In addition, an
innovative well workover cantilever system was successfully
commissioned on a Large Class SESV in 2017. The cantilever allows
GMS to increase the level and type of well intervention activities
that can be carried out from these vessels to include operations
that have traditionally been performed by more expensive
non-propelled drilling rigs.
The fleet is categorised by size into Large Class vessels
(operating in water depth of up to 80m, with crane capacity of up
to 400 tonnes and accommodation for up to 300 people), Mid-Size
Class vessels (operating in water depth up to 55m, with crane
capacity of up to 150 tonnes and accommodation for up to 300
people) and Small Class vessels (operating in water depth of up to
45m, with crane capacity of up to 45 tonnes and accommodation for
up to 300 people).
Demand for GMS' vessels is predominantly driven by their premium
and cost-effective capabilities, underpinned by the need to
maintain ageing oil and gas infrastructure and the increasing use
of enhanced oil recovery techniques to offset declining production
profiles.
Gulf Marine Services PLC's Legal Entity Identifier is
213800IGS2QE89SAJF77
www.gmsuae.com
Disclaimer
The content of the Gulf Marine Services PLC website should not
be considered to form a part of or be incorporated into this
announcement.
Cautionary Statement
This announcement includes statements that are forward-looking
in nature. All statements other than statements of historical fact
are capable of interpretation as forward-looking statements. These
statements may generally, but not always, be identified by the use
of words such as 'will', 'should', 'could', 'estimate', 'goals',
'outlook', 'probably', 'project', 'risks', 'schedule', 'seek',
'target', 'expects', 'is expected to', 'aims', 'may', 'objective',
'is likely to', 'intends', 'believes', 'anticipates', 'plans', 'we
see' or similar expressions. By their nature these forward-looking
statements involve numerous assumptions, risks and uncertainties,
both general and specific, as they relate to events and depend on
circumstances that might occur in the future.
Accordingly, the actual results, operations, performance or
achievements of the Company and its subsidiaries may be materially
different from any future results, operations, performance or
achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking
statements, due to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other
factors. Neither Gulf Marine Services PLC nor any of its
subsidiaries undertake any obligation to publicly update or revise
any forward-looking statement as a result of new information,
future events or other information. No part of this announcement
constitutes, or shall be taken to constitute, an invitation or
inducement to invest the Company or any other entity, and must not
be relied upon in any way in connection with any investment
decision. All written and oral forward-looking statements
attributable to the Company or to persons acting on the Company's
behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by the cautionary
statements referred to above.
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
END
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