KUALA LUMPUR (May 29): After incurring losses for four consecutive years, Velesto Energy Bhd is confident it will post "better numbers" in the second half of this year, banking on the expectation of higher utilisation rates for its drilling rigs for the rest of the year.

Velesto president and executive director Rohaizad Darus said the group is currently focusing on ensuring higher utilisation rates by expanding its market coverage.

“In general, the oil and gas (O&G) industry, despite the volatility of oil price, has seen significant improvements in activities, not only in Malaysia but also regionally and globally,” he told reporters after Velesto’s annual general meeting here today.

“Moving forward, I believe the industry will continue to grow despite the volatility. And Velesto will continue to ride on this industry recovery and we hope to be able to improve our bottom line in the near future.”

In its financial year ended Dec 31, 2018 (FY18), the group's utilisation rate improved to 73% from 70% in FY17.

Together with cost-saving initiatives and other efficiency improvements, Rohaizad said FY18's core loss after tax, excluding impairment provisions, significantly narrowed by 94% to RM9.1 million from RM147.1 million.

Meanwhile, Velesto was recently awarded four contracts by Petronas Carigali Sdn Bhd that have an estimated combined value of US$104.68 million (about RM433.07 million) on a firm duration of one year, plus two extension options of one year each.

Rohaizad, however, said the group will only see significantly better utilisation rate during the second half of the year as the contracts will only commence by the end of this month, and early next month.

As at today, Rohaizad said the group’s order book stands at RM1.54 billion, while it is bidding for some RM2.29 billion worth of jobs.