TIDMPOS
RNS Number : 7366U
Plexus Holdings Plc
05 December 2013
Plexus Holdings PLC / Index: AIM / Epic: POS / Sector: Oil
equipment & services
5 December 2013
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, will hold its Annual
General Meeting ('AGM') today. Jerome Jeffrey Thrall, Chairman,
will make the following statement at the AGM:
"For the twelve months ended 30 June 2013, for the third
consecutive year, Plexus delivered a record set of results in terms
of revenues and profits. During this period, revenues generated
from the sale and rental of the Company's POS-GRIP wellheads and
support services rose 29.7% to GBP25.6m, while pre-tax profits
jumped by 38.3% to GBP4.3m. This progress demonstrates the momentum
behind the business founded on new and repeat orders secured for
our rental exploration wellhead equipment, and the increasing
recognition among leading oil and gas operators of the advantages
our proprietary patented POS-GRIP wellhead systems offer in terms
of safety, reliability, and performance.
"Our business growth is being driven by what we believe is a
fundamental change taking place within the industry aimed at
ensuring that best practices and equipment are used at all stages
of oil and gas exploration and production. This is increasingly
becoming known as the use of best available and safest technology
('BAST'), and in the case of wellheads this focuses on long term
wellhead integrity, particularly seal life, monitoring, and annular
pressure management. This call for higher standards came into sharp
focus following the 2010 Gulf of Mexico incident which led to a
heightened level of awareness among regulators and operators for
the need to improve safety procedures and to select BAST equipment
at all times. We believe a paradigm shift in attitudes to well
safety is taking place, and although it will take time for the
industry to fully adapt to this changing environment, we believe
that we have the advantage of offering new and uniquely enabling
technology, solutions, and equipment that can address a range of
current wellhead issues and concerns. Thanks to our POS-GRIP
wellheads having been successfully used in over 300 wells worldwide
by leading operators, often in extremely challenging operating
conditions, Plexus is ideally placed to become the first port of
call for the supply of what we believe is best in class wellhead
equipment, particularly for HP/HT applications.
"In tandem with our core rental activity, considerable progress
is being made with regards to expanding Plexus' suite of equipment
based on our patented POS-GRIP technology. Our up to 20,000 psi
HP/HT Tie-Back system Joint Industry Project ('JIP') which uniquely
allows operators to pre-drill HP/HT production wells and tie-back
to a platform has undergone final testing and we will be initiating
marketing activity whilst looking for an opportunity to run a
prototype with a suitable operating partner. The key attraction for
operators with this product is the potential savings in terms of
capital costs, and the ability to bring cash flow from a project on
stream much earlier.
"In addition our new HGSS subsea wellhead JIP which we are
developing alongside Total, Maersk Oil North Sea UK Ltd, Shell
International Exploration and Production B.V., Wintershall Noordzee
B.V., Tullow Oil, Eni S.p.A, Oil States Industries Inc., and the UK
entity of the world's largest offshore drilling company, is making
excellent progress with the design stage now well advanced. We,
along with our JIP partners, believe our POS-GRIP wellhead
technology when the project is completed will be able to address a
number of key safety and operational challenges that conventional
subsea wellhead equipment has failed to resolve to date and which
have been exposed by incidents such as Macondo. These include long
term metal to metal sealing, instant casing hanger lock-down, and
solving the challenge of subsea annulus management in terms of
monitoring and remedial capability.
"Having established the superior operating and safety
credentials of our patented POS-GRIP technology out in the field
many times over, particularly in extreme HP/HT operating
conditions, we recognise we have a tremendous opportunity to
position Plexus as a new standard and the supplier of choice for
wellhead equipment and services. While this may appear a lofty
ambition for a smaller company operating in a multi-billion dollar
sector where five companies dominate the wellhead market, Plexus
has developed a proven technology which addresses key issues that
are known to the industry and where improved performance and safety
functionality are key priorities.
"I believe our strategy is further underpinned by our recent
successful placing which raised GBP6.83million, and saw major
institutional investors bolstering their stake in the Company, and
welcomed new funds onto the register.
"With all these developments in mind we believe that 2014
promises to be an exciting year for Plexus. Since the financial
year end we have already secured a new customer in Eni Australia
Limited; a further HP/HT contract with Statoil Petroleum AS and
also with Glencore Exploration Cameroon Ltd; and further standard
pressure contracts with Centrica Energy Norway, BG International
Egypt, and Centrica North Sea Gas Ltd. We look forward to providing
further updates on our progress in due course.
"Finally, as announced on 23 October 2013, I am pleased to
confirm that the Board has recommended the payment of an increased
final dividend of 0.55p per share, 10% higher than the previous
final dividend for year ended 30 June 2012, and which will be
submitted for formal approval at this AGM today."
**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 PLC Tel: 0131 220 9100
Alan Stewart Cenkos Securities PLC Tel: 0131 220 9774
Felicity Edwards St Brides Media & Finance Tel: 020 7236 1177
Ltd
Frank Buhagiar St Brides Media & Finance Tel: 020 7236 1177
Ltd
Notes to Editors:
Plexus Holdings PLC, which began trading on AIM in December
2005, is an oil and gas engineering and services business, which
supplies wellhead and mudline suspension equipment for exploration
and production applications. Based in Aberdeen, with offices in
London, Cairo, Kuala Lumpur and a presence in Houston, 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.
The Company plans to accelerate the roll out of POS-GRIP
wellhead equipment as a superior alternative to current technology
and for it to become the future industry standard for wellhead
design. In particular, the technology has advantages in High
Pressure/High Temperature (HP/HT) and Extreme HP/HT (X-HP/HT) oil
and gas environments, for which there is growing global demand and
where Plexus is being increasingly recognised as the supplier of
choice. Importantly, the Company is focussed on extending its
proprietary technology into an increasing number of subsea
applications. In line with this, in March 2011 the Company launched
an initiative to develop a new subsea wellhead design, HGSS(TM),
utilising its friction-grip technology in collaboration with key
oil and gas operators and service companies. Royal Dutch Shell,
Wintershall, Maersk, Tullow Oil, ENI, Oil States Industries Inc.,
TOTAL and the UK entity of the world's largest offshore drilling
company have joined the initiative to date. The HGSS subsea
wellhead design will include a combination of key features never
before seen in a subsea wellhead which include being rated to
15,000 psi, 4,000,000 pounds of 'instant' casing lockdown capacity,
annulus pressure monitoring and access for 'bleed off' capability
to address sustained casing pressure ('SCP') issues which are
recognised by the API as a serious industry problem, and rigid
metal annular seal technology qualified to match the performance of
premium casing. The design process has now been completed, and
prototype testing is due for completion mid 2014.
To date, POS-GRIP wellhead systems have been used or selected to
be used in over 300 oil and gas wells by international companies
including Apache Energy Australia, BHP Billiton, BG International,
Bowleven plc, BP, Brunei Shell Petroleum, Cairn Energy, Centrica,
ConocoPhillips, Dana Petroleum, Dubai Petroleum, GDF SUEZ, Global
Santa Fe, Maersk, Niko Resources, Petro-Canada Trinidad &
Tobago, Red Sea Petroleum Operating Company, Repsol, RWE, Senergy
Limited, Shell Egypt, StatoilHydro, Silverstone Energy, Talisman
Energy, Tullow Oil, and Wintershall.
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
END
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