Perdana Petroleum eyes fleet renewal as kitchen sinking ends

Perdana Petroleum eyes fleet renewal as kitchen sinking ends

KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 21): Offshore marine service provider Perdana Petroleum Bhd said it is looking at fleet renewal to take advantage of the potential upside in offshore construction and maintenance projects to be undertaken by oil majors, and as an avenue for growth in the future.

It booked a record impairment loss of US$45.3 million (RM189.1 million) on its offshore support vessels (OSVs) in the fourth quarter ended Dec 31, 2021 (4QFY21), bringing the total allowance for impairment loss for the financial year ended Dec 31, 2021 (FY21) to US$52.5 million (RM219.1 million).

About one third to a half of the group’s fleet of eight anchor handling tug supply hired out is chartered to its 63.7%-parent Dayang Enterprise Holdings Bhd.

In a bourse filing on Monday (Feb 21), the group said it remains "cautiously optimistic" that it will post better results in the coming years.

The massive impairment loss of RM189.1 million booked in 4QFY21, compared with RM4.9 million recorded in 4QFY20, led the group to post a record quarterly net loss of RM261.7 million for 4QFY21 from RM18.54 million a year ago. Revenue for 4QFY21, however, rose 40.7% to RM51 million from RM36.23 million in 4QFY20, thanks to higher vessel utilisation rate at 51% during the current quarter, compared with 41% a year ago.

For the full year FY21, the group's net loss widened to RM325.2 million, from RM65.83 million net loss in FY20 — marking its seventh consecutive year in the red. Revenue fell 22.9% to RM160.56 million in FY21, from RM208.35 million in the previous year as average utilisation came in lower at 49%, from 53%, on slower work orders and contracts awarded.

Going forward, Perdana Petroleum said the industry has weathered the most challenging two years in its history and the rebound of the crude oil price to a more sustainable level can lead to a healthier outlook of the oil and gas industry in the coming months, at levels reasonably high enough to spur oil majors to undertake their planned capital expenditure.

"We also expect that economic activities would be gradually getting back to normal, barring any further Covid-19 related disruption, with the step-up in the vaccination programme, including booster shots and lifting of travel restrictions throughout the country by the Malaysian government," it added.

Shares of Perdana Petroleum closed unchanged at 12 sen on Monday, giving it a market capitalisation of RM266.02 million.

http://www.theedgemarkets.com/article/perdana-petroleum-eyes-fleet-renewal-kitchen-sinking-ends