KUALA LUMPUR (May 25): Perdana Petroleum Bhd reported a bigger net loss of RM11.96 million or 1.54 sen loss per share for the first quarter ended March (1QFY16),  compared with RM8.64 million or 1.17 sen per share a year ago, due to lower vessel utilisation.

Revenue fell 39.5% to RM42 million, from RM69.5 million, it told Bursa Malaysia in a filing today.

The group, a subsidiary of Dayang Enterprise Holdings Bhd (DEHB), said vessel utilisation fell to 50%, as compared with 76% in 1QFY15.

“The low vessel utilisation is a result of slower work orders/contracts awarded from the oil majors which were affected by the decline in crude oil prices since 2015,” it said.

Perdana Petroleum said the offshore support vessel (OSV) market outlook remains uncertain for 2016 due to volatile crude oil prices, but it is confident that decisions made last year, like management restructuring and loan refinancing, have helped prepare it to overcome the situation.

The group is looking positively at better fleet utilisation rate this year and is currently exploring possibilities of tapping into the regional and international markets.

It expressed hope of making a small operational profit in 2016, through improved efficiencies via continued operational streamlining and newly-established synergies with DEHB.

“DEHB is involved in Hook-Up & Commissioning (HUC) and Topside Structural Maintenance (TSM) for the brownfield market which has been less adversely affected by the downturn.

“Though we cannot predict when the OSV market will pick up, we believe that our young fleet of average age of approximately 5.2 years, will continue to provide longer term charter opportunities,” Perdana Petroleum said.

DEHB, which raised its stake in Perdana Petroleum to more than 98% through mandatory offer last year, plans to divest at least 25% of the stake to maintain the latter’s listing status.