GMG Acquires Fugro’s Trenching, Cable Laying Business
Global Marine Group (GMG) will acquire Fugro’s trenching and cable laying business in exchange for an equity stake of around 24 percent in the combined business valued at $65 million, and a one year secured vendor loan of $ 7.5 million. Fugro said it will realize a gain on this transaction, valued at approximately $73 million. GMG is a supplier of subsea cable installation and maintenance services in the telecoms, offshore renewables, power and oil and gas market segments. The…
Fugro to Divest its Multi-Client Data Library to Spectrum
The multi-client library business has been non-strategic since the divestment of the majority of Fugro’s geoscience activities in 2013, and this transaction is consistent with Fugro’s strategy to focus on its geotechnical and survey activities going forward. The multi-client library consists of high quality seismic data in support of oil and gas exploration. The database contains about 1.6 million kilometres of 2D and over 140,000 square kilometres of 3D seismic data, with a focus on Australia and Norway. Paul van Riel, CEO: “We are pleased with the agreement reached with Spectrum. This divestment is a logical consequence of our strategic decision, as communicated in February this year, to focus on our core activities, where we have market leading positions.
Fugro Cut Costs on Market Downturn
Sales down 2.1 percent, order backlog falls 11 percent. Dutch marine services company Fugro said on Wednesday it would further cut costs and reduce the number of ships in its fleet in light of the continuing downturn in the oil market affecting its customers. The company reported a 2.1 percent fall in sales to 594 million euros ($652 million) for the first quarter of 2015 from the same period a year ago. It said its order backlog for the remainder of 2015 has fallen by 11 percent to 1.61 billion euros. "The drop in backlog however is a clear signal of the continuing downturn in the oil and gas market," CEO Paul van Riel said in a trading update. "In light of oil and gas market developments and reduced visibility, we have decided to implement additional cost reduction measures," he said.
Fugro Report Mixed Fortunes in First Half 2014
Fugro report first half-year revenue of EUR 1,186.9 million compared to EUR 1,167.9 million in first half of 2013. Year-on-year revenue growth at constant currencies of 6.2% or 7.9% excluding multi-client seismic surveys. Non-cash impairments and one-off write-offs of EUR 346.6 million due to weak results and the more challenging oil and gas market outlook. This was mostly related to the Geoscience division. EBIT margin, excluding non-cash impairments and one-off write-offs, was 2.1% which is significantly below last year. This was mainly due to poor performance across all divisions in the first quarter and continued losses in the Geoscience division in the first half year.
Fugro Warns of Disappointing First Half
Dutch marine services company Fugro NV has warned that weakness in the oil and gas industry, combined with technical difficulties, meant its results for the first half would fall short of expectations, hammering its shares. Fugro, involved in the search for Malaysia Airlines' missing flight MH370, said it would make a one-off writedown of up to 350 million euros ($477.4 million) as a result of slowing growth in capital spending in the oil and gas industry, which accounts for three quarters of group revenue. It said it would report a "low single-digit" margin, on the basis of earnings before interest and tax (EBIT), for the first six months of the year, but strong growth in the second half would partly compensate for the setback. The full-year margin will still be down on last year.
Weakening Energy Sector a Factor in Fugro Profit Slide
Following a weak first quarter and due to poorer than expected results during the past months, Fugro says it has decided to disclose preliminary non-audited information on its performance in the first half of 2014. Low single digit EBIT margin (excluding non-cash impairments). This compares to an EBIT margin of 11.4% in the same period last year, or 10.3% excluding special items1. Non-cash impairments in a range of EUR 300-350 million. After the weak first quarter, improvement in results during the past months has been lower than expected mainly for the following reasons. The weakening of the oil and gas market, as a result of decelerating growth of capital spending, is resulting in project delays and increased margin pressure in all divisions.
