President and group chief executive officer Tan Sri Shahril Shamsuddin said the company aims to return to the black when the utilisation of its drilling and E&C business crosses the 70% mark.
KUALA LUMPUR: Sapura Energy Bhd
, which posted a net profit of RM500.4mil in the fourth quarter ended Jan 31, against a net loss of RM2.28bil in the same quarter a year earlier, has declared a special dividend of 0.5 sen per share for the financial year ended Jan 31 (FY19).
Its revenue from continuing operations of RM1.48bil was 64.5% higher than RM902.7mil in the corresponding quarter of the preceding year, mainly attributable to the higher revenue from engineering and construction business segment.
Sapura Energy said for 4Q19, the group posted a profit-after tax and minority interest of RM500mil, including a gain on disposal and provision for impairment, in comparison to a loss-after-tax in 4Q18 of RM2.3bil which included a provision for impairment of RM2.1bil. The provision for impairment on assets enables the group to be more competitive operationally and economically.
On a quarter to quarter basis, the group’s E&C segment recorded an 88% increase in revenue from RM700mil in 4Q18 to RM1.3bil in 4Q19, in line with higher activities during the current quarter.
Its drilling segment registered an 8.5% higher in revenue at RM250mil in the current quarter compared to RM230mil in the corresponding quarter of the preceding year, due to higher number of rigs working compared to the previous year.
For its exploration and production (E&P) E&P segment, revenue was at RM202mil for the current quarter, compared to RM286mil in 4Q18, due to lower oil liftings and the effect of the lower average realised oil price achieved in the current quarter compared to last tear.
For the full financial year, Sapura Energy posted a profit-after-tax and minority interest of RM208mil, compared to a loss-after-tax and minority interest of RM2.5bil in the previous year (FY18).
“This included a gain of RM2.7bil from the sale of 50% stake in its E&P business, through the strategic partnership with OMV, and a provision for impairment of RM1.5 billion, primarily for drilling, and engineering and construction (E&C) assets.
“Our focus for the financial year 2019 was to strengthen our balance sheet and position the group to capitalise on the emerging opportunities. Despite the challenging year, we successfully completed two major corporate exercises, where we raised approximately RM7.6bil.
“This has enabled us to reduce our net gearing to a healthy 0.6x and provided the financial flexibility for the group to bid for and execute higher value projects, in addition to gaining a strong partner in our E&P business,” President and group CEO Tan Sri Shahril Shamsuddin said in a statement.
In FY20, Sapura Energy will remain focused on growing and executing the orderbook as well as delivering strong operational performance.
New contract wins for FY19 of RM9.3bil, an increase of 230% from the previous year, has lifted the current orderbook to RM17.2bil, the highest in two years.
“Sapura Energy continues to aggressively pursue new opportunities in the Middle East, Africa, Asia Pacific, Europe and the Caspian, and the Americas. The expanding orderbook and focus on execution are expected to further boost asset utilisation, thus contributing to improving the group’s financial performance,” the company said.
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