Singapore: Swiber Continues to Make Steady Progress

Swiber Holdings Limited (“Swiber” or together with its subsidiaries, the “Group”), a world class integrated construction and support services provider to the offshore oil and gas industry, reported that net profit for the three months ended September 30, 2013 (“3Q2013”) jumped 15.4% to US$14.5 million from US$12.5 million in the three months ended September 30, 2012 (“3Q2012”).

Revenue was up 3.4% to US$274.2 million from US$265.3 million over the same period, driven by growth in the South East Asia segment.

Commented Mr. Francis Wong, Group Chief Executive Officer and President of Swiber, “We continue to make steady progress, seen from our top and bottomline performance. It is heartening that our investments in our associates and joint ventures have reached a new level and become significant contributors to our financials. We will continue to cultivate these companies and seek out synergistic opportunities to complement our core capabilities in order to provide further value to our global customers.”

Other Performance Review

In line with the higher revenue of US$274.2 million, gross profit climbed 4.6% to US$39.0 million in 3Q2013. Gross profit margin was up 0.1 percentage points to 14.2% in 3Q2013 from 14.1% in 3Q2012.

Share of profit of associates surged over three times to hit US$15.9 million in 3Q2013 from US$4.9 million in 3Q2012 with positive contributions from certain associates and joint ventures.

With the rise in business activities, administrative expenses and finance expenses also increased. Other operating expenses, however, declined 63.8% to US$1.5 million mainly due to fair value loss on financial liabilities, partially offset by lower exchange losses. In line with above, net profit rose 15.4% to US$14.5 million in 3Q2013.

Swiber’s basic earnings per share, based on its 3Q2013 results, was up at 1.3 US cents from 1.2 US cents in 3Q2012, while net asset value per share rose to 87.3 US cents as at September 30, 2013, from 79.3 US cents as at 31 December 2012.

For the nine months ended September 30, 2013 (“9M2013”), the Group achieved a 19.8% increase in revenue to US$826.0 million as compared to US$689.3 million in the same corresponding period last year (“9M2012”), led by strong contract wins in South East Asia.

Correspondingly, gross profit climbed 16.2% to US$126.0 million in 9M2013 from US$108.4 million in 9M2012. For 3Q2013, gross profit margin held steady at the healthy level of 14.2%.

Net profit was up 12.8% to US$51.9 million in 9M2013 from US$46.0 million in 9M2012.

Growth Strategies & Outlook

Commented Mr. Francis Wong, “Oil prices are expected to remain at a sustainable level that will lead to continued expenditure by major oil and gas companies to expand their offshore exploration activities and enhance their production. As we remain prudent in managing our operations, we will also maximise cost efficiencies to provide value added solutions to our customers.

In November 5, 2013, Swiber received an offer of S$0.80 in cash for each share in Kreuz Holdings (“Kreuz”), which represents a premium of approximately 78.4% over Kreuz’s NAV per share as at Sept 30, 2013. Swiber is expected to record a net gain of approximately US$90.6 million from this proposed disposal. The cash proceeds from the disposal will be used as working capital to fund the operations of the Group’s core businesses and to undertake future business expansions, acquisitions and new investment opportunities.

“The recent proposed divestment of Kreuz provides us an opportunity to crystalise value for our shareholders. The proceeds from the divestment would also strengthen our balance sheet and provide the financing for our future expansion. This, coupled with a strong outlook for the offshore oil and gas industry, will prepare us well to win large new contracts from major oil and gas players in both existing and new markets,” concluded Mr. Wong.

Press Release, November 13, 2013