15-04-2011, 07:11 AM
Good news all around! But come to think of it, even when I was vested in Ezra previously, did it ever have a habit of reporting "bad" news?
Business Times - 15 Apr 2011
Ezra's new unit bags US$254m in orders since October
It is also bidding for US$3b worth of work in Asia-Pac and West Africa
By LYNN KAN
SUBSEA player Ezra Holdings' US$250 million purchase of subsea installation specialist Aker Marine Contractors (AMC) last October has quickly reeled in about US$254 million in subsea construction contracts to date.
The latest is also the new merged unit's largest to date. Awarded by Noble Energy, EMAS AMC's subsea installation project is worth US$88 million.
EMAS AMC is expected to start work next year, laying about 330km of umbilicals and subsea equipment, and delivering suction piles and jumpers for the Tamar development in the Mediterranean Sea.
Lionel Lee, managing director of Ezra who relocated to Houston, Texas, after the AMC acquisition, revealed that the unit is actively bidding for about US$3 billion worth of work in the Asia-Pacific region and West Africa.
The newest contract from Noble signals that the company has finally entered the big league in the subsea sector, competing head-on with the largest SURF (subsea umbilicals, risers and flowlines) players like Subsea7, Saipem and Technip, said Mr Lee.
The future for the subsea sector looks bright despite concerns of oversupply, he added.
'From our perspective, contracts are 'combo' projects - heavy lift, pipelay and SURF - because it's easier for oil majors to manage contractors, so you must be able to do all three,' Mr Lee said at a media briefing yesterday.
'We had heavy lift and pipelay, but without AMC, no SURF. The oil majors also didn't look at us because we didn't have experience in that area.
'The beauty of EMAS today is that we have a 20- year history with a 40-year legacy because the track record from AMC starts from 1972.'
AMC's earnings and income kick in only in Ezra's second half of FY2011 but Ezra shifting its heft into the subsea market is already producing gains, going by the sharp increase in revenue from subsea services in its latest H1 2011 results, released yesterday.
Subsea services leapt more than nine-fold from US$3 million in H1 2010 to US$27.1 million this year.
Ezra's profit after tax ended 23 per cent down year-on-year to US$7.9 million in its second quarter ended Feb 28, 2011.
The drop was mainly due to the increase in financial expenses to support Ezra's expansion which jumped to $6.1 million from $2.7 million in the comparable quarter last year.
However, Ezra showed a strong gain in turnover of 33 per cent to US$98.8 million in its Q2 from US$74.5 million last year.
Its results for the first half were similar.
Net profit was down 26 per cent to US$21.2 million from US$28.8 million last year.
Revenue climbed 29 per cent to US$174.8 million from US$135.4 million.
Earnings per share for H1 2011 stands at 2.76 US cents, down from 4.12 cents the year before.
EMAS AMC has also signed a letter of intent to provide subsea support services to an international oil major in Africa worth US$32 million.
Ezra's shares closed unchanged yesterday at $1.77.
Business Times - 15 Apr 2011
Ezra's new unit bags US$254m in orders since October
It is also bidding for US$3b worth of work in Asia-Pac and West Africa
By LYNN KAN
SUBSEA player Ezra Holdings' US$250 million purchase of subsea installation specialist Aker Marine Contractors (AMC) last October has quickly reeled in about US$254 million in subsea construction contracts to date.
The latest is also the new merged unit's largest to date. Awarded by Noble Energy, EMAS AMC's subsea installation project is worth US$88 million.
EMAS AMC is expected to start work next year, laying about 330km of umbilicals and subsea equipment, and delivering suction piles and jumpers for the Tamar development in the Mediterranean Sea.
Lionel Lee, managing director of Ezra who relocated to Houston, Texas, after the AMC acquisition, revealed that the unit is actively bidding for about US$3 billion worth of work in the Asia-Pacific region and West Africa.
The newest contract from Noble signals that the company has finally entered the big league in the subsea sector, competing head-on with the largest SURF (subsea umbilicals, risers and flowlines) players like Subsea7, Saipem and Technip, said Mr Lee.
The future for the subsea sector looks bright despite concerns of oversupply, he added.
'From our perspective, contracts are 'combo' projects - heavy lift, pipelay and SURF - because it's easier for oil majors to manage contractors, so you must be able to do all three,' Mr Lee said at a media briefing yesterday.
'We had heavy lift and pipelay, but without AMC, no SURF. The oil majors also didn't look at us because we didn't have experience in that area.
'The beauty of EMAS today is that we have a 20- year history with a 40-year legacy because the track record from AMC starts from 1972.'
AMC's earnings and income kick in only in Ezra's second half of FY2011 but Ezra shifting its heft into the subsea market is already producing gains, going by the sharp increase in revenue from subsea services in its latest H1 2011 results, released yesterday.
Subsea services leapt more than nine-fold from US$3 million in H1 2010 to US$27.1 million this year.
Ezra's profit after tax ended 23 per cent down year-on-year to US$7.9 million in its second quarter ended Feb 28, 2011.
The drop was mainly due to the increase in financial expenses to support Ezra's expansion which jumped to $6.1 million from $2.7 million in the comparable quarter last year.
However, Ezra showed a strong gain in turnover of 33 per cent to US$98.8 million in its Q2 from US$74.5 million last year.
Its results for the first half were similar.
Net profit was down 26 per cent to US$21.2 million from US$28.8 million last year.
Revenue climbed 29 per cent to US$174.8 million from US$135.4 million.
Earnings per share for H1 2011 stands at 2.76 US cents, down from 4.12 cents the year before.
EMAS AMC has also signed a letter of intent to provide subsea support services to an international oil major in Africa worth US$32 million.
Ezra's shares closed unchanged yesterday at $1.77.
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