Gulfmark Offshore posts jump in Q1 profit

Net profit in the quarter ended 31 March 2014 jumped to $16.56m from $2.87m in the same period of last year.

Revenue rose 23.4% year-on-year to $119.6m, New York-listed Gulfmark Offshore announced. Quintin Kneen, president and ceo of Gulfmark Offshore, expected revenue to further increase to $131-136m in the second quarter.

He added that the company is comfortable about reaffirming its full year revenue guidance of between $525-555m.

“The North Sea delivered strong first quarter results in what is typically a slower seasonal period. Our utilisation surpassed 90% for the quarter, our highest first quarter utilisation in this region since 2010,” Kneen said.

“The average day rate for the region, bolstered by the impact of our newbuild vessels, exceeded $22,000, our highest first quarter average since 2008. We continue to expect strong activity for the remainder of the year in the North Sea, and expect average day rates to continue to increase in the second and third quarters,” he continued.

Gulfmark Offshore’s operations in the Americas and Southeast Asian regions saw utilisation of 86% during the first quarter, while Brazil’s operations kept utilisation at above 90%.

“We remain optimistic about the near-term and long-term fundamentals of our business, and we will continue to make strategic fleet investments and divestitures that create long-term value for our stockholders (…),” Kneen commented.