TIDMGMS
RNS Number : 7839O
Gulf Marine Services PLC
22 May 2018
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 January
2018 to 21 May 2018, ahead of its AGM today.
GMS announced two charter awards in the MENA region during the
period: a 24-month contract for a Mid-Size Class vessel and a
16-month contract extension for a Small Class vessel. These awards
have helped the secured backlog (comprising firm and extension
options) to increase to US$ 181.2 million as at 30 April 2018 (31
December 2017: US$ 171.9 million). A Large Class vessel also
recently commenced a 26-month charter for renewables work in
Europe, and will be joined later this quarter by another Large
Class vessel for a 15-month charter to the same client. (All the
above contract lengths include option periods.)
Levels of enquiries and tenders are continuing to increase in
the Group's principal markets. All of GMS' Large and Mid-Size Class
vessels are now contracted. The utilisation(1) rate for the core
fleet of
13 SESVs was 64% for Q1 2018. Utilisation for the fleet is
expected to improve over 2018 through a combination of several
vessels being already mobilised onto new charters and a continued
recovery in demand.
Financial Position
The Group's net debt level (being bank borrowings less cash) at
30 April 2018 was US$ 398.2 million (31 December 2017: US$ 372.8
million) with increased working capital requirements and
expenditure incurred on mobilising vessels for new contracts. The
Board's view of trading for 2018 remains unchanged, with an
improvement on our 2017 results expected as market conditions
gradually recover. Net debt levels will reduce as the operating
cash flows begin to reflect the improved fleet utilisation together
with minimal capital expenditure commitments.
Duncan Anderson, Chief Executive Officer of GMS, said:
"It has been a busy start to the year operationally, with six of
our core fleet of 13 SESVs being deployed onto new charters in the
first half of 2018. Against the background of continuing relative
strength in the oil price, we are making satisfactory progress in
recovering our utilisation levels and strengthening our
relationships with key strategic clients in the wider MENA region.
We would hope to see a progressive improvement in charter rates as
market capacity begins to tighten in 2019 and beyond, and a more
substantial improvement in our results, benefitting from our high
operational gearing.
"We are very proud to have two vessels commencing work in Europe
in Q2 2018 to support the construction of Hornsea Project One, the
world's largest offshore wind farm development.
"Our SESV fleet is one of the youngest in the industry, with an
average age of just seven years, a significant advantage in the
current environment where clients are often excluding older tonnage
from tender activities. I am confident that our expertise and
reputation for providing meaningful cost efficiencies for our
clients makes GMS well-placed to capitalise on a market
recovery."
- Ends -
1Utilisation is the percentage of available days in a relevant
period during which an SESV is under contract and in respect of
which a client is paying a day rate for the charter of the SESV,
excluding periods during which an SESV is not available for hire
due to planned mobilisations, construction or upgrade work.
Enquiries
For further information please contact:
Gulf Marine Services
PLC Brunswick
Duncan Anderson Patrick Handley -
John Brown UK
Tel: +971 (2) 5028888 Will Medvei - UK
Anne Toomey Tel: +44 (0) 20 7404
Tel: +44 (0) 1296 5959
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
world's leading provider of advanced self-propelled self-elevating
support vessels (SESVs). The fleet serves the oil, gas and
renewable energy industries from its offices in the United Arab
Emirates, Saudi Arabia and the United Kingdom. The Group's assets
are capable of serving clients' requirements across the globe,
including those in the Middle East, South East Asia, West Africa
and Europe.
The GMS core fleet of 13 SESVs is amongst the youngest in the
industry, with an average age of seven 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 categorised by size - Large, Mid-Size and Small
Class - with these operating in water depths of 80m, 55m and 45m
respectively. The vessels are four-legged 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 (for up to 300
people) that can be adapted to the requirements of the Group's
clients. In addition, an innovative well workover cantilever system
commissioned on a Large Class SESV in 2017 allows GMS to increase
the well intervention activities carried out from the vessel and to
supplant higher cost non-propelled drilling rigs.
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 news service of the
London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct
Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United
Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution
of this information may apply. For further information, please
contact rns@lseg.com or visit www.rns.com.
END
UPDPGUWUAUPRGQG
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