Keppel Limited

[AAA]

Keppel wins two jackup orders worth about US$1 billion from Maersk

http://info.sgx.com/webcoranncatth.nsf/V...800359F5D/$file/KCL_Press_Release_150211.pdf?openelement

I am very iimpressed with Keppel Corp! It has secured so many orders since last quarter!

I think it will continue to do well.

[Nick]

One of the few truly world class companies listed here. Certainly a good company to own.

[AAA]

Singapore, 17 February 2011
Keppel bags two-rig contract from Transocean worth US$380 million

Mr Tong Chong Heong, Chief Executive Officer of Keppel Offshore & Marine, said, “We are seeing encouraging demand in the jackup segment, particularly for high-specification rigs that can address tough climatic and field conditions, while meeting stringent safety standards.

This is an area where Keppel FELS enjoys a strong competitive advantage, given our experience with harsh environment rigs, and proprietary jackup designs that have proven operational and safety track records globally."

[AAA]

Contract Wins Since FY 11

• Keppel bags two-rig contract from Transocean worth US$380 million (Singapore, 17 February 2011)
• Keppel wins two jackup orders worth about US$1 billion from Maersk (Singapore, 15 February 2011)
• Keppel FELS Brasil secures two FPSO topside contracts worth R$500 million (approx.S$381.4 million) (Singapore, 13 February 2011)
• Keppel wins US$440 million twin jackup rig contract from (Singapore, 10 February 2011)
• Keppel to build two harsh environment jackups worth about US$416 million for Discovery Offshore (Singapore, 27 January 2011)
• Keppel to build two jackups for Clearwater worth US$360 million (Singapore, 23 January 2011)
• Keppel secures S$240 million worth of conversion and specialised shipbuilding contracts (Singapore, 27 December 2010)

Contracts won in the whole of FY10 was S$3.2billion. What has been won since 1 Jan 11 is more than what was won for the whole of FY10! Amazing.

[Musicwhiz]

Business Times - 18 Feb 2011

Keppel has blistering start to year for oil-rig orders

Keppel Fels wins US$380m deals to build 2 jack-up rigs for Transocean unit

By JOYCE HOOI

KEPPEL has shot out of the starting gate this year, racking up $3.7 billion in new orders for oil rigs since the beginning of 2011, including the latest order which it announced yesterday.

Its competitor Sembcorp Marine has a new-order tally of about $450 million year to date, after a blistering fourth quarter of orders in 2010.

Keppel Fels bulked up the group's order book yesterday with a US$380 million contract win to build two high-specification jack-up rigs for Transocean unit Transocean Offshore Deepwater Holdings Ltd.

The rigs are based on the KFELS Super B Class Bigfoot design and are slated for delivery from H2 2012 onwards.

'At US$190 million per unit, this is 5.6 per cent above the last KFELS B Class jack-up ordered. The price difference may be partially explained by enhanced specifications on the Super B Class Bigfoot variant,' said a DBS Group Research report issued yesterday.

The yard has seen a slew of orders for high-specification rigs lately. On Tuesday, it announced a contract worth close to US$1 billion to build two high-specification harsh-environment jack-ups for Maersk Drilling.

'Keppel has been winning orders for high-specification jack-up rigs since 2010. We expect more contracts for jack-up rigs in 2011 as oil prices remain high and demand for deepwater drilling is strong,' said Phillip Securities Research analyst Alfred Low in a report yesterday.

Keppel's total outstanding order book is also leading SembMarine's, at $7.5 billion compared to estimates of about $5.9 billion for the latter, according to the latest analyst reports this month.

The second half of last year had been SembMarine's time of hay-making in the sun. It clinched deals which included an order for two jack-ups with Seadrill and an option for another four which could come up to about US$1 billion in total.

It has 10 outstanding rig options, after its client Atwood Oceanics exercised one of them to build a jack-up worth US$182 million in January. The remaining 10 are worth about US$2 billion, according to a DBS Group Research report last month.

Keppel at last count had 15 outstanding rig options, amassed since the end of November last year. DMG's analyst, Jason Saw, put the total value of the options in the range of $3.7 billion to $4.1 billion.

Yesterday, Keppel and SembMarine's counters closed 1.7 per cent and 2.9 per cent higher, at $11.78 and $5.32, respectively.

[Musicwhiz]

The Business Times
April 20, 2012
Property profits push KepCorp to record gain
It posts $750.7m net earnings in Q1; marine segment contributes $235m
By Lynn Kan

KEPPEL Corporation hauled in its largest ever quarterly profit of $750.7 million in the first quarter of 2012, more than double the $311.5 million it earned in the comparable period last year.

The substantial leap in profit came from Keppel Corp's property segment which recognised earnings from Reflections at Keppel Bay units handed over under the deferred payment scheme (DPS).

As a result, the property division turned in $393 million or about half of bottomline, beating Keppel Corp's core offshore and marine segments whose share of net profits was 31 per cent or $235 million.

Correspondingly, revenue for the conglomerate came up to $4.27 billion, 86 per cent higher than Q1 2011's $2.29 billion.

In a webcast held yesterday, Keppel Corp CFO Loh Chin Hua stressed that Q1 2012's stellar profits were "unlikely to be repeated in the next three quarters".

"We have delivered the significant bulk of Reflections at Keppel Bay apartments sold under DPS. There remains approximately 100 units to be delivered in the second quarter," he said.

On the offshore and marine front, its Q1 order wins was US$688 million, a drop from the $4.5 billion won in the same period last year. Its net order book stands at $8.4 billion with deliveries stretching into 2015.

The order tally to date excludes a recently announced US$4.12 billion order for five semi-submersibles to be delivered to Sete Brasil. The contract will be finalised in the second half of 2012, said Keppel Corp yesterday.

The rigs will be built in Keppel's Brazil yard because of the country's "local content" rules on production of equipment like rigs.

Keppel Corp CEO Choo Chiau Beng said Keppel is on the lookout for more yard space in Brazil and expects to incur more capital expenditure as a result. Mr Choo declined to reveal how much capex might be deployed for additional Brazilian yard space.

Keppel is also refining productivity at its yards, notwithstanding that Keppel's regional Asian yards on top of its Singapore yards yields enough capacity.

To boost productivity further, the Keppel Offshore and Marine Technology Centre has been restructured to become the Technology Division of Keppel Offshore and Marine. Mr Choo said the technology division will look into process technology that will increase productivity in all its yards and also see if further automation can be introduced.

Mr Choo said that the group would be "quite happy" if Keppel's offshore and marine segment is able to maintain 2011's margin range of 12-15 per cent but would reasonably expect profit margins to be 10-12 per cent. "But we have always explained that we had a bumper margin in 2011 and the market must not expect we can keep it," he said.

Mr Choo also announced that Keppel O&M has come up with two new semisubmersible rig designs "to meet the needs of drilling in deeper waters and harsher environments."

Earnings per share for the group was 41.9 cents, more than double of last year's 17.6 cents.

Keppel Corp closed trading yesterday at $11.55, up eight cents.

[CityFarmer]

I am not vested in Keppel Corporation Limited, but saw this announcement today

Keppel Shipyard Managing Director Nelson Yeo passes away peacefully
http://info.sgx.com/webcorannc.nsf/Annou...endocument

One more young and successful elite pass away suddenly without warning.

Mr Yeo, 55, was the Managing Director (Marine) of Keppel O&M and the Managing
Director of Keppel Shipyard.

[pianist]

I am not vested in Keppel Corporation Limited, but saw this announcement today

Keppel Shipyard Managing Director Nelson Yeo passes away peacefully
http://info.sgx.com/webcorannc.nsf/Annou...endocument

One more young and successful elite pass away suddenly without warning.

Mr Yeo, 55, was the Managing Director (Marine) of Keppel O&M and the Managing
Director of Keppel Shipyard.

it says "After suffering a brain haemorrhage over the weekend while on business in London, Mr Yeo passed away peacefully this morning, with his family by his bedside."

could he have knocked his head onto something?

[shn]

Full year results of Keppel Corp. Awesome!

1. Net profit improved 28% to S$1,914 million, compared to FY 2011’s S$1,491 million.
2. Earnings per Share of 106.8 cents, up 27% from FY 2011’s 83.8 cents.
3. Return on Equity remains healthy at 22.6%.
4. Economic Value Added increased from S$1,024 million to S$1,375 million.
5. Cash outflow of S$63 million.
6. Net gearing of 0.23x.
7. Total distribution increased to 72.4 cents per share, comprising:

[KopiKat]

Saw an interesting SGX Annc this AM,

JOINT VENTURE AGREEMENT WITH UK SEABED RESOURCES LTD. AND LION CITY CAPITAL PARTNERS PTE. LTD.


The part I highlighted in red that piqued my curiousity,

The principal business activities of OMS are obtaining and maintaining licences for, and causing to be carried out, the exploration and harvesting of polymetallic nodules in certain areas of the international seabed. OMS has applied for its first exploration licence with the International Seabed Authority (“ISA”), established under the United Nations Convention on the Law of Sea, and the application will be considered by the ISA in July this year.


Went to check wikipedia further. Extracts on what is Polymetallic modules,

Polymetallic nodules, also called manganese nodules, are rock concretions on the sea bottom formed of concentric layers of iron and manganese hydroxides around a core.


Something at the end of the article that makes me wonder if things has changed to make such mining activities economically feasible...

In the meantime, interest in the extraction of nodules had waned. Three factors were largely responsible:

- Difficulty and expense of developing and operating mining technology that could economically remove the nodules from depths of five or six kilometers and transport them to the ocean surface
- High taxes the international community would charge for the mining, and
- Continuing availability of the key minerals from land-based sources at market prices.

The commercial extraction of polymetallic nodules is not considered likely to occur during the next two decades.



Learnt something new today!