KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 25): Bumi Armada Bhd posted a net profit of RM116.59 million for its second quarter ended June 30, 2017, from a net loss RM518.32 million a year earlier.

Revenue for the quarter (2QFY17) rose to RM694.42 million, from RM402.87 million a year earlier.

Earnings per share was 1.99 sen, compared with a loss per share of 8.84 sen previously.

In a filing to Bursa Malaysia this afternoon, Bumi Armada said for the six months ended June 30, it posted a net profit of RM164.69 million, from a net loss of RM494.89 million a year earlier, on the back of revenue of RM1.09 billion, from RM833.64 million in 2016.

In a statement accompanying the results, Bumi Armada said the floating production and operation (FPO) business segment revenues in Q2 2017 increased by 116.9% year-on-year to RM337.6 million, due to higher revenue from the Armada Olombendo floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) and the Armada LNG Mediterrana floating storage unit (FSU) respectively, as well as the absence of supplementary payments to the charterer of the Armada Kraken FPSO, which impacted Q1 2017 revenue.

It said offshore marine services (OMS) revenue in Q2 2017 saw a 44.3% year-on-year increase to RM356.8 million, due to higher revenue from the LukOil project.

Bumi Armada said offshore support vessels (OSV) utilisation in Q2 2017 improved to 53%, from 42% in Q1 2017, helped by increased activity post-monsoon season, and the sale of four older vessels during the quarter.

Bumi Armada executive director and chief executive officer Leon Harland said improvements in the second quarter performance highlight ongoing recovery in the group, despite the relatively subdued market conditions.

“The FPO business is ramping up, as our new major projects have come on-line and are contributing positively.

Harland said the company had a full quarter of contributions from both the Armada LNG Mediterrana FSU and the Armada Olombendo FPSO in Malta and Angola, respectively, in the second quarter of 2017.

“We also saw revenue starting for the Armada Kraken FPSO in UK, towards the end of the second quarter. With Karapan Armada Sterling III FPSO in Indonesia having passed its 72-hour test since the end of Q2 2017 and starting to contribute as well, we will further improve the income streams for the group in the second half of 2017, and will complete a challenging but progressive transformation year in our FPO business unit,” he said.

Harland said within the OMS business unit, the subsead construction (SC) results in Q2 2017 were stronger, on the back of good performance in the pipelay activities in the Caspian Sea. He added with the recently-announced supplementary contract from LukOil, Bumi Armada had secured additional work with an existing client.

“The OSV business registered a recovery in vessel utilisation, as some vessels in South East Asia went back to work, post monsoon.

“We will bid on new FPO projects and have been progressing our efforts on selected tenders, and we expect to see decisions over the course of 2018,” he said.

Bumi Armada rose 0.69% or 0.5 sen to 73 sen, with 1.14 million shares traded in the morning session today.