Pacific Radiance's Q1 profit plunges 95%; revenue down 25%

OFFSHORE marine services provider Pacific Radiance on Thursday posted a 95 per cent plunge in net profit to US$902,000 for its first quarter ended March 2015, versus US$17.83 million recorded in the year-ago period, mainly due to the decrease in gross profits from its subsea and offshore support services businesses.

Revenue for the quarter was down 25 per cent at US$31.54 million, compared to US$41.96 million in the year-ago period, mainly attributable to the 71 per cent decline in turnover of its subsea business from US$8.6 million to US$2.5 million, and a 13 per cent decline in offshore support services business from US$32.7 million to US$28.6 million.

The group acknowledged that the current market conditions continue to present a challenging business environment for the offshore support services sector. It added that it has prior experience in effectively managing such challenges in the oil and gas business cycle.

As a result, the group expects its results over the next few quarters to continue to be impacted by the soft market conditions.

However, it added that oil prices are beginning to show signs of improvement and the group remains hopeful that its businesses will improve over the medium term once the market stabilises.

Earnings per share for the quarter was 0.1 US cent while net asset value per share was 59.6 US cents. No dividend was declared for the quarter.

As at 9.30am on Thursday, Pacific Radiance's counter was trading down 2.29 per cent at S$0.640.