TIDMPOS
RNS Number : 9463Z
Plexus Holdings Plc
21 December 2017
Plexus Holdings PLC / Index: AIM / Epic: POS / Sector: Oil
equipment & services
21 December 2017
Plexus Holdings PLC ('Plexus' or 'the Company')
AGM Statement
Plexus Holdings PLC, the AIM quoted oil and gas engineering
services business and owner of the proprietary POS-GRIP(R)
friction-grip method of wellhead engineering, known for its safety,
time and cost saving capabilities, will hold its Annual General
Meeting ('AGM') today. At the AGM, Ben van Bilderbeek, Chief
Executive, will make the following statement:
"30 June 2017 marks the end of our 12-month financial reporting
period. This year it also marked what is likely to prove to be the
low point for Brent Crude in 2017, which during the summer traded
as low as US$46 per barrel compared to above US$60 today. As a
supplier of proprietary best in class wellhead equipment to leading
operators such as ENI, Maersk, Total, Royal Dutch Shell and
Statoil, our financial performance for the 12 months to 30 June
2017 mirrored the challenging trading conditions faced by the oil
and gas sector over the course of the year, specifically the
jack-up exploration market where Plexus has in the past earned the
bulk of its revenues.
"We believe that our wellheads are superior in terms of
performance, reliability and safety whilst at the same time
offering significant cost savings to operators. They have been used
on over 350 wells worldwide, but our equipment cannot combat a
depressed exploration drilling market, particularly where we have
been so dependent on the North Sea. Full year revenues of GBP4.75m
(2016: GBP11.23m); an EBITDA loss of GBP2.48m (2016: GBP1.56m
loss); a loss after tax of GBP5.7m (2016: GBP5.79m loss) after
incurring GBP4.47m of depreciation and amortisation; and a basic
loss per share of 5.41p (2016: 6.39p loss per share), all reflect
the depressed levels of exploration activity experienced over the
course of the year to 30 June 2017. Conversely, however, the
current financial year very much represents a new beginning for
Plexus, not just in terms of the strengthening of the oil price
which, thanks to improving sentiment, today trades above US$60 per
barrel, but also in terms of corporate activity and a new strategic
direction.
"As announced in October 2017, the signing of a conditional
contract for sale of our jack-up exploration business to tier one
oil and gas engineer Technip FMC is game-changing. Not only will
the pending sale generate an immediate cash payment to Plexus of
GBP15m less certain adjustments, which has the potential through a
three year earn out to increase the total value of the transaction
to as much as GBP42.5m but, along with a proposed Collaboration
Agreement with Technip, it provides industry recognition for our
proprietary POS-GRIP friction based method of engineering.
Importantly this milestone repositions Plexus as an IP-led research
and development licensing business based around POS-GRIP, and one
that will have the resources and focus to pursue applications based
on POS-GRIP in other markets such as production and subsea
wellheads either organically or through licensees, as we look to
embed our technology across the energy sector. The outstanding
conditions that need to be met before completion relate to employee
transfers and contract novations, both of which are progressing
well and we look forward to updating the market in due course.
"We already have a growing family of POS-GRIP products, a number
of which are available for deployment out in the field or are ready
for commercialisation. Our POS-SET Connector(TM), which utilises
POS-GRIP for use on abandonment operations, has been used by
Centrica Energy Exploration and Production on a gas well originally
drilled 35 years ago in 1982 offshore Holland; in September 2017,
Plexus was awarded a purchase order from Centrica North Sea Limited
to supply our POS-GRIP "HG" 10,000psi adjustable production
wellhead for a gas production well in the UK Southern North Sea.
Abandonment and production are two substantial markets, and both
are areas which we will be targeting going forward. Subsea
exploration and production is another valuable market and here too
we have a product that is ready for deployment out in the field.
Furthermore, as envisaged by Plexus under the terms of the
Collaboration Agreement between Plexus and Technip, both parties
will look to work together to develop Plexus' existing POS-GRIP IP
for applications in other segments of the energy industry such as
geothermal, fracking and wind energy.
"Our goal has been and continues to be to build on our near 100%
market share of the high pressure/high temperature market in the
North Sea and establish POS-GRIP as the go-to technology for
operators all over the world. Having won orders for wells in
hydrocarbon jurisdictions as far afield as Asia, Africa and
Australia, notable progress has been made. We believe the sale of
our jack-up exploration rental business and the Collaboration
Agreement with a global company with the market reach and expertise
of Technip will accelerate the roll-out of our family of products,
not just in jack-up exploration but across the wider energy sector.
Together with an improving outlook for the industry that is founded
on supply and demand moving closer towards equilibrium, Plexus is
well placed to fully realise the potential of its ground-breaking
technology and in the process generate significant value for all
its shareholders."
**ENDS**
For further information please visit www.posgrip.com or
contact:
Ben van Bilderbeek Plexus Holdings PLC Tel: 020 7795
6890
Graham Stevens Plexus Holdings PLC Tel: 020 7795
6890
Derrick Lee Cenkos Securities Tel: 0131 220
PLC 9100
Frank Buhagiar St Brides Partners Tel: 020 7236
Ltd 1177
Isabel de Salis St Brides Partners Tel: 020 7236
Ltd 1177
NOTES:
Plexus Holdings PLC is an AIM traded oil and gas engineering and
services business, which supplies wellhead and mudline suspension
equipment together with associated equipment and services for
exploration and production applications. Based in Aberdeen, with a
presence in London, Cairo, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore and Texas, it
has developed and patented a friction-grip method of engineering
for oil and gas field wellheads and connectors, POS-GRIP(R), which
involves deforming one tubular member against another to effect
gripping and sealing.
To date, POS-GRIP(R) wellhead systems have been used in over 400
oil and gas wells by numerous international companies. In
particular, the technology has advantages in High Pressure/High
Temperature (HPHT) and Extreme HPHT (X-HPHT) oil and gas
environments, for which there is growing global demand and where
Plexus is being increasingly recognised as the supplier of choice.
Plexus has recently successfully completed the supply of an X-HPHT
exploration wellhead to Total for the Solaris well which is
believed to be the deepest and highest pressure well ever drilled
in the North Sea.
Plexus is also extending its technology into an increasing
number of other applications:
-- In September 2015 it launched a prototype of the 'Python(TM)
Subsea Wellhead' developed as part of a Joint Industry Project in
collaboration with BG, Royal Dutch Shell, Wintershall, Maersk,
TOTAL, Tullow Oil, ENI, LR Senergy, Transocean and Oil States
Industries Inc.
-- It recently also completed a JIP in conjunction with Maersk
to develop a downhole HPHT Tieback connector which for the first
time allows the reconnection of production casing to HPHT
exploration and production wells
-- It developed and qualified a new product called POS-SET
Connector(TM) which is designed to re-establish a connection onto
rough conductor casing previously cut above the seabed to
facilitate tieback or abandonment operations
Having proven its POS-GRIP technology in the niche jack-up
exploration market Plexus is now focused on extending its
applications into the much larger multi-billion dollar land and
platform production well market as well as actively pursuing a
first time use of the new Python subsea wellhead into the important
subsea sector. Such strategic initiatives will be pursued both
organically and with trading partners and licencees.
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
END
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December 21, 2017 02:00 ET (07:00 GMT)
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