BOURBON Revenues Increase in 3Q (France)

BOURBON, a company which offers the most demanding oil and gas companies a comprehensive range of surface and subsea marine services for offshore oil and gas fields and wind farms, has announced third quarter 2013 results.

Revenue increased 8.6% versus third quarter 2012 benefiting from fleet increases and steady utilization rates.

Average utilization rates for the supply fleet remain high versus the same period last year with offsetting impacts of several vessels in transit and stronger demand in several markets.

Average daily rates for the supply fleet were +3.7% versus the same period last year partly due to renewal of contracts at higher levels.

West Africa demand improving sequentially over 2nd quarter 2013.

“Increases in the BOURBON fleet and improvements in demand have partly contributed to growth in revenues for both the quarter and year to date period,” says Christian Lefèvre, Chief Executive Officer of BOURBON. “During the 3rd quarter 2013, vessels in transit between Regions compared to 2012 in Deepwater and Shallow water offshore vessel segments contributed to declines in average utilization rates. Foreign exchange rates in the 3rd quarter 2013 had a negative impact on BOURBON’s revenues of approximately €11 million compared with the 2nd quarter of 2013.

“BOURBON will continue to implement the reduction of its debt as per the Asset Smart portion of the “Transforming for Beyond” action plan with the sale of the next 15 vessels during the coming weeks and the remaining 27 vessels in batches as they are delivered and before the end of June 2014, for a total of US$1.5 billion, including the nine vessels sold in early September.”

Marine Services revenues were up 4.9% year on year to €267.0 million, in line with the rate of increase in the size of the fleet. The decline in the average utilization rate was compensated by the increase in average daily rates in both the Deepwater and Crewboat segments. Daily rate increases were seen for both new contracts as well as renewal of existing contracts. In addition, there was an impact on each of the Marine Services segments from the change in consolidation scope that became effective on January 1, 2013.

Subsea Services revenues were driven by the addition of 2 new Bourbon Evolution 800 series vessels. The delivery of one of these vessels took place at the end of the 2012 period and hence, it had almost no impact on the prior year revenues and full impact on the current period.

The stability of oil prices since 2011 is supporting investments in Exploration/Production. The resulting activity will continue to stimulate the demand for offshore vessels.

In deepwater offshore, the demand for medium size PSVs is expected to increase next year, boosted by development of deepwater projects mainly in Africa and in Southeast Asia. Activity in harsh and remote areas (Canada, Barents Sea and the Santos Basin in Brazil) is expected to pick up, having a positive impact on the market for the high end range of PSV and AHTS vessels.

In shallow water offshore, the market is expected to be positively impacted by both the increase of jack-up rigs in operation (there are 128 jack-up rigs under construction) and by the acceleration of the substitution of the aging fleet, especially in South East Asia and in the Middle East, driven by clients looking for quality offshore vessels. Fewer vessels are expected to be coming out of shipyards, further contributing to an improvement in the market.

Subsea activity is expected to remain high driven by the increase of number of Subsea wellheads. The Bourbon Evolution 800 series design (100M length) is well recognized in the subsea IMR market. Interest is foreseen for the capabilities of vessels to support the upcoming growing subsea installation and deepwater field maintenance.

The strategy of fleet standardization, the focus on crew training through the use of simulators, and the systematization of maintenance and procurement procedures aim to continue to underpin BOURBON’s operational and financial performance.

BOURBON is fully committed to reducing its debt in order to build future high value-added growth.

[mappress]

November 06, 2013