Bourbon 4th Quarter and Annual Turnover 2010 (France)

“Thanks to the dynamism and exceptional dedication of the Women and Men who work at BOURBON, activity grew in 2010 despite still difficult market conditions and administrative problems in Brazil which are now resolved. Greater demands from clients in terms of safety, reliability of operations, crew skills and transparency can only increase the value of our offer of services and vessels. 2010 saw the launch of the BOURBON 2015 Leadership Strategy plan and the finalization of BOURBON’s refocus on oil and gas services. The new business structure is in place and, day after day, the staff teams are rallying together to deliver the actions needed to achieve our objectives. In the last quarter, we saw a slight upturn in the utilization rate of our vessels, which appears to confirm the steady recovery expected in 2011,” says Christian Lefèvre, Chief Executive Officer of BOURBON.

In the fourth quarter of 2010, BOURBON revenues totaled 221.3 million euros, up 12.9% compared with the same period in 2009.

Compared with the same quarter of the previous year, “Marine Services” revenues were 16.5% higher at 173.4 million euros, despite a deterioration in market conditions. This growth is largely due to the full effect of the 58 new BOURBON vessels put in service in the last twelve months, in line with the Group’s strategy of replacing old and obsolete continental offshore vessels.

“Subsea Services” revenues were 26.2% higher at 40.2 million euros compared with the same quarter of the previous year, largely due to better performance from IMR vessels and expansion of the fleet (one new IMR vessel was put into service during the quarter).

In full-year 2010, revenues were up 4.6% (3.5% at constant exchange rates) compared with the previous year.

The allocations of vessel resources by segment confirm the value of BOURBON’s strategic choices. These choices permitted BOURBON to successfully withstand a difficult market.

Vessels continued to be delivered at a steady rate, albeit at a slightly lower pace than the average in the previous three quarters (12 deliveries in the fourth quarter, compared with an average of 16 previously).

The average utilization rate of the fleet remained high at 81.1% in the fourth quarter of 2010, slightly higher than in the previous quarter.

Subsea Services revenues

In the fourth quarter of 2010, “Subsea Services” revenues were 26.2% higher at 40.2 million euros compared with the same quarter of the previous year, largely due to the expansion of the fleet (three new IMR vessels in the last twelve months).

Over full-year 2010, “Subsea Services” revenues were 17.5% higher at 149.6 million euros compared with full-year 2009, thanks to the expansion of the fleet and integrated services.

Compared with the third quarter of 2010, revenues were down 3.4% despite high utilization rates being maintained (over 91%). This is partly due to the unfavorable dollar exchange rate and to the geographical relocation of one vessel to Brazil.

The policy of long-term contractualization for BOURBON’s IMR vessels enabled a virtually constant utilization rate to be maintained.

The fourth quarter saw the arrival of Southern Ocean, the biggest vessel in BOURBON’s fleet.

[mappress]

Source: bourbon ,February 09, 2011;