Russia: Sovcomflot Revenue Up

Sovcomflot of Russia said its gross revenue was USD 1,114.3 million for the nine months to 30 September, up 3.7 percent compared to the same period last year.

Highlights

• Time charter equivalent (TCE) revenues: USD 720.2 million (+ 3.7 pct)
• EBITDA: USD 375.0 million (+ 3.5 pct)
• Net profit: USD 42.3 million (-10.7 pct)
• Total fleet: 156 owned and chartered-in vessels of 11.7 million tonnes DWT
• Seven vessels of 0.6 million tonnes DWT in total added to the fleet
• Long-term time charter agreements concluded with Shell Trading & Shipping Company (STASCO) for two new 170,000 cubic metre ice-class LNG carriers (June 2012)
• Long-term time charter of two 20,600 cubic metre ice-class LPG tankers concluded with Russian oil and chemical company SIBUR (March 2012)
• Expansion of joint venture with Glencore International AG, through joint ownership and management of additional four 74,000 tonnes DWT LR1 product tankers
• NS Parade becomes the first vessel to load at Rosneft’s new deepwater loading facility at Russia’s Tuapse refinery, with a maximum throughput capacity of seven million tonnes per annum (June 2012)
• Nevsky Prospect becomes the first Aframax vessel to load at new Ust-Luga terminal, with a maximum throughput capacity of 38 million tonnes per annum (March 2012)
• Successful completion of 1,800 nautical miles towage and installation of a 140,000 tonnes gravity-based structure (GBS) platform for the Arkutun-Dagi field (Sakhalin 1 project, operated by Exxon Neftegas Ltd) (June 2012)
• In Q3, the product tanker SCF Amur successfully completed a transit of the Northern Sea Route, carrying 44,000 tonnes of petroleum products for Gazpromneft.

Commenting on the results, Sergey Frank, President and CEO of OAO Sovcomflot, said:

“The first nine months of 2012 have seen no overall improvement in the tanker market. Indeed, average industry earnings for all tanker segments remained near their historical lows of the last 12 years.

“Against this background, SCF Group remained profitable in the first nine months of 2012. In part this results from our more diversified business portfolio with a substantial portion of fixed rate long-term time charters to national and international leading oil companies. It also reflects our strategy of expanding our presence in higher margin market segments, such as offshore and seismic surveying.

“SCF Group remains grateful for the continuing support of its customers and employees, without whom we would not have been able to achieve the results we are able to report. We believe our emphasis on safety and the quality of services offered to our customers, together with SCF’s significant Arctic expertise and ice shipping, should assist us to continue implementing our plans. Importantly, we believe these factors leave SCF well placed to benefit from when the tanker market returns to a period of greater stability and growth.”

Nikolai Kolesnikov, Senior Executive Vice-President, Chief Financial Officer, added:

“Despite the current depressed nature of the tanker markets and the ongoing turbulence in global financial markets, SCF Group continues to meet its financial obligations. During the period, the Group concluded a long-term financing arrangement with two leading global financial institutions. This extended our access to credit and was a further demonstration of the confidence of international lenders.”

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LNG World News Staff, November 29, 2012; Image: