Perdana Petroleum poised for turnaround in 2015 KUALA LUMPUR: Perdana Petroleum Bhd expects 2013 to be a turnaround year, following the turbulent period of the global financial crisis. Executive director Datuk Henry Kho also told StarBiz the offshore supply vessel (OSV) operator was participating in an upcoming round of OSV tenders for 18 vessels believed to be worth between RM1.4bil and RM1.5bil. The results of this latest round of contracts were likely to be known by the end of the year or early 2014, Kho said in an interview yesterday. “We are participating but we don’t have a lot of spare capacity left,” he added. Maybank IB Research reiterated its “overweight” call on the OSV market in a note yesterday, given the “sustained waves of contract awards and the sub-sector’s still-decent valuations”. “We expect the share prices of Malaysia’s OSV operators to maintain their upward trend as contracts continue to roll out. Alam Maritim Resources Bhd, Perdana Petroleum and Bumi Armada Bhd are the primary beneficiaries (of the 18 vessel tenders),” the brokerage said. It upgraded Alam Maritim’s target price to RM1.90 and retained Perdana Petroleum and Bumi Armada’s target prices at RM4.40 and RM2.50, respectively. Four production-sharing contractors – Petronas Carigali, Shell, Lundin and Murphy – were understood to have issued separate invitations-to-bid for 18 ships, comprising 14 anchor handling tug supply vessels and four platform supply vessels. “Alam Maritim, Perdana Petroleum and Bumi Armada are strongly tipped to benefit from these tenders, based on the vessels at their disposal,” Maybank IB Research said. Perdana Petroleum has 15 ships at its disposal, with one set to be delivered in the fourth quarter of this year and two more next year, taking its OSV count to 18. Kho said the firm had expanded “aggressively” over the past 12 months by acquiring five vessels, which it plans to use for hook-up and commissioning and enhanced oil recovery jobs. Perdana Petroleum has been loss-making since 2010, but narrowed its losses to RM3.7mil last year. In its second-quarter results released yesterday, the company more than doubled net profit to RM13.17mil from RM5.1mil a year earlier. Revenue for the period rose 6.53% to RM71.66mil against RM67.27mil previously, while earnings per share (EPS) was higher at 2.64 sen versus 1.03 sen. During the six months to June, Perdana Petroleum saw its net earnings surge to RM24.26mil from a loss of RM3.08mil last year on better utilisation and charter rates for its vessels as well as lower expenses and impairments. Its topline grew 6.39% to RM128.44mil against RM120.72mil in the six-month period. EPS stood at 4.86 sen versus a loss per share of 0.62 sen earlier. The company also told the stock exchange in a filing that it would strive to clinch long-term charters for its newbuild assets. Eleven of its vessels, or 73% of its fleet, are currently on long-term hire.
Posted on: Fri, 23 Aug 2013 01:29:24 +0000
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