France: BOURBON’s 4Q Revenues Up 23.4 pct

In the fourth quarter of 2011, BOURBON posted revenues totaling 273.1 million euros, up 23.4% (same percentage increase at constant exchange rate) compared with the same period in 2010, boosted by the commissioning of 39 new vessels and the gradual improvement in utilization and daily rates.

Compared with the third quarter of 2011, BOURBON’s revenues were up 8.3%, due to growth in utilization rates, (+6.1% at constant exchange rate). All segments of BOURBON’s directly-owned vessels were up. The only decline was in the “Other” revenues, mainly composed of external chartered vessels, which were down by 12.0%.

In full-year 2011 compared with full-year 2010, revenues were up 18.6% (+20.7% at constant exchange rate), largely due to very strong performance from the shallow water offshore vessel (+59.1%) and crewboat (+16.6%) segments, and the Subsea Activity (+15.5%). This growth is due to the fleet’s expansion and an improvement in utilization rates and daily rates.

“Revenues for 2011 are in line with our strategic plan and, for the first time since our focus on offshore services, topped the symbolic bar of one billion euros. The improvement in the offshore vessels market continues in all segments and the fleet’s average utilization rate increased by 4.3 points in the year to 84.2%. This improvement is particularly marked in the deepwater offshore segment where the utilization rate for BOURBON vessels was over 93% in the last quarter of 2011. On average, charter rates held up well in the second half, despite being hit in the fourth quarter by the seasonal effect of the monsoon in South-East Asia,” announced Christian Lefèvre, Chief Executive Officer of BOURBON.

“The stability of the Brent price per barrel (US$109 in the fourth quarter of 2011) has encouraged our clients to increase their planned investments. This will have a positive effect on the future prospects for the offshore vessels market and, with its modern and innovative fleet (5.6 year-old in average), BOURBON’s performance is set to improve still further in 2012.”

During the quarter, BOURBON took delivery of 3 new vessels (1 IMR vessel, 1 shallow water offshore vessel and 1 crewboat), whilst 2 vessels (1 shallow water supply and 1 crewboat) were taken out of the fleet during the period.

The fleet’s average utilization rate continued to increase, reaching 85.7% in the fourth quarter of 2011 (+4.6 points compared with the fourth quarter of 2010), compared with 83.4% in the third quarter of 2011

In 2011, BOURBON took delivery of 39 new vessels, in line with its investment program. Compared with the same period in 2010, the average utilization rate was 4.3 points higher at 84.2%, confirming the market upturn.

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Offshore Energy Today Staff, February 8, 2012; Image: BOURBON