Seatrade Maritime is part of the Informa Markets Division of Informa PLC

This site is operated by a business or businesses owned by Informa PLC and all copyright resides with them. Informa PLC's registered office is 5 Howick Place, London SW1P 1WG. Registered in England and Wales. Number 8860726.

Lamprell recovers with strong first half

Lamprell recovers with strong first half
Lamprell Plc has exceeded its own expectations and returned to profit with net earnings of $14.7m for the first half of the year, improving on 2012's $37.8m loss for the same period.

First half revenues fell from $528m last year to $521m in 2013 while the company's net cash position improved from a debt of $35.7m to net cash of $151m between the two periods.

Lamprell has recently focussed on completing "problem projects" such as the second in a pair of wind turbine vessels, known as windcarriers, which was delivered to Fred Olsen in February. The  windcarrier, bold tern, was due to be delivered in the third quarter of 2012, but suffered a number of delays and financial headaches for Lamprell.

The company currently has a $1.1bn order backlog and a $4.6bn bid pipeline, although for next year it expects a reduction in revenue and profit as it awaits the outcome of bids on a number of projects.

In his outlook, ceo James Moffat commented on the fundamentals of the group's core business sectors, "strong forecast drilling activity internationally is expected to increase rig count and rig refurbishment activities, not least because two-thirds of the global jackup rig fleet are over 25 years old. As a result, attrition rates of older rigs have accelerated in recent years. In general the jackup rig market has continued to see good demand through 2013 as a result of which there has been strong tender activity," he said.

Lamprell also announced that their cfo, Frank Nelson will leave the company in October to return to the UK for personal reasons. Joanne Curin, will replace Nelson as cfo from 1 October.

"Frank originally joined Lamprell on an interim basis last October to allow the Board sufficient time to identify a replacement and so I am very pleased to announce that we have been able to appoint Joanne Curin to replace Frank in the role as she brings a wealth of experience and expertise, particularly in light of her many years of working at the most senior level for listed companies," chairman John Kennedy commented.