Revenue however fell 15% to MYR226.9m from MYR266.6m in 2015. Icon blamed the decrease mainly on a drop in vessel utilisation rate to 51.6% last year from 60% in the previous corresponding period.
The group said this was due to completion of certain long-term contracts, delays in award of contracts and longer monsoon off-hires during the current year as well as continuous lower demand and lower activities in the oil and gas industry.
For the fourth quarter, net losses also narrowed to MYR150.5m from MYR376.9m in the fourth quarter of 2015 due to lower impairments compared to the previous corresponding period. Revenue however continued to slide, falling 19% to MYR53.2m in the fourth quarter of 2016 from MYR65.3m previously.
The slide, as expected, was blamed on even steeper falls in utilisation rate in the most recent quarter as the market slump accelerates. Fleet utilisation rate fell to 48.1% in the fourth quarter of 2016 from 56.5% for the previous corresponding quarter.
Explaining the results, Icon said while upstream exploration and production activities in Malaysia continue to underpin demand for OSVs, global political concerns and volatility of the oil price during the period under review contributed to highly challenging market conditions for OSVs which has largely impacted operators.
Icon noted however that the oil price has "reasonably stabilised" recently and along with the group having largely completed its cost optimisation and cash conservation initiatives, it will continue to focus on securing new contracts and maximisation of utilisation rates through competitive tendering for domestic and regional contracts, as well as leveraging on its expanded presence in Brunei.
It concluded that the board "remain(s) cautious" for the year ahead.
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