Topaz Energy and Marine, a leading offshore support vessel and marine logistics company, has posted revenues of $349 million for 2018, as against $244 million in the previous year, marking an increase of 43 per cent.

The company’s EBITDA increased 61 per cent to $190 million during the year, while the net profit margin was 8 per cent, against a net loss margin of 10 per cent in 2017, reflecting a rise of 18 percentage points.

Topaz’s Q4 2018 revenue increased to $106 million, up 54 per cent compared to Q4 2017; EBITDA increased by 100 per cent to $62 million in Q4 2018 against Q4 2017.

Operational efficiencies and the impact of all Tengiz project vessels being fully operational towards the end of the period ensured an increased EBITDA margin to 58 per cent for the period, despite ramp-up costs for Tengiz, a company statement said.

The company significantly enhanced profitability, with two consecutive quarters of profits (before exceptional items) and a positive PAT for the year, it added.

René Kofod-Olsen, chief executive officer, Topaz Energy and Marine said: “Topaz delivered a strong financial performance in 2018, with full year profit after tax (before exceptions) of $28 million compared to a loss of $24 million in 2017. Cash generated from operations after tax increased by $62 million in the last quarter to reach $146 million for the year.”

“Our market-leading utilisation rates increased to86 per cent, compared to 65 per cent in the prior year, driven by higher deployment in our Solutions business through the Tengiz project, Mena and Sub-Saharan Africa fleets, as well as the addition of modern vessels. Our robust business performance was well reflected in our strong financial results for the year, with revenues and EBITDA up by 43 per cent and 61 per cent, respectively, compared to 2017, strengthening our balance sheet, while enhancing our profitability.

“With the stability of our home market position in the Caspian Sea, our transformational Tengiz project and the turnaround achieved in Sub-Saharan Africa, it’s satisfying that our strategies are progressing and delivering robust results, and that our revenue visibility has been further enhanced as our contract revenue backlog increased to $1.7 billion by the end of 2018,” he added.

“We remain agile in the management of our asset portfolio to ensure that we are at the forefront of industry innovation to drive growth in established and new markets. Following vessel divestments earlier in the year, we added two modern AHTSVs which were deployed into the growing market in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, to service a major oil company. Meanwhile, we secured contracts for the two modern subsea new buildings which we took delivery of in Q1 2019.

“Tengiz, our strategic marine logistics project, part of Topaz Solutions, delivered better than expected returns in 2018 thanks to operational efficiencies and strict cost control. We expect to capitalise on these and continue delivering robust returns in 2019 as all 20 vessels of the fleet will be earning full revenue for the year,” Kofod-Olsen concluded. – TradeArabia News Service