Subsea 7 Swings to Q4 Profit

Oslo-listed Subsea 7 has returned to profit in the quarter ended December 31, 2017 on no goodwill impairment charges and a higher taxation credit.

The subsea engineering and construction specialist posted quarterly profit of $51 million, or $17 cents per diluted share, on revenue of $1 billion, versus loss of $13 million, or $1 cent per diluted share on revenue of $932 million in the comparable period in 2016.

Higher quarterly results were contributed by the activity increase in renewables and conventional divisions.

Subsea 7 booked no goodwill impairment charges in Q4 2017, compared to a charge of $90 million in Q4 2016, and recognised taxation credit of $32 million in Q4 2017, compared to a taxation credit of $13 million in Q4 2016.

SURF and Conventional revenue for the quarter was $754 million, up $49 million or 7 per cent compared to Q4 2016. Year-to-date revenue ($2.7 billion) was down by $288 million due to lower offshore activities levels.

i-Tech Services revenue for Q4 2017 was $67 million, a decrease of $18 million or 21 per cent compared to Q4 2016.

Revenue for the Renewables and Heavy Lifting division was $181 million in Q4 2017. Full-year was $959 million.

Revenue for the twelve months of 2017 was $4 billion, up 12 percent when compared to twelve months of 2016. Net income year-to-date was $455 million, or $1.36 per share, compared to $418 million, or $1.27 per share in 2016.

Subsea 7’s order intake was $3.3 billion for the full year. The company said its order backlog at the end of December 2017 was $5.2 billion, compared to $5.7 billion same time in 2016. $4.3 billion of the backlog is related to the SURF and Conventional business unit.

The company’s board of directors will recommend to the shareholders that a special dividend of NOK 5.00 per share be paid, equivalent to a total dividend of approximately USD 200 million.

Subsea 7 said its guidance for the full year 2018 remains unchanged. Revenue is expected to be broadly in line with 2017 and adjusted EBITDA percentage margin (27%) is expected to be significantly lower than that achieved in 2017, the company noted.

Subsea World News Staff