NauticAWT launches IPO for Catalist listing
Oil & gas engineering solutions provider seeks to raise net proceeds of S$2.8m to help fund expansion
Singapore
OIL & gas engineering solutions provider NauticAWT on Tuesday launched its initial public offering (IPO) for a Catalist listing to raise funds to expand its operations, and to boost its regional standing to pursue new global projects.
The Singapore-based company has earmarked part of the expected net IPO proceeds of S$2.8 million for capital expenditure to further strengthen its contracting services. It will also use the proceeds for expansion of the group's business scope through investments, acquisitions and joint ventures and for working capital, the company said at a media briefing on Tuesday.
NauticAWT is offering 28 million shares, with one million shares under a public offer and 27 million shares for placement.
The shares, at 20 Singapore cents each, are priced at a historical price-earnings ratio of approximately 5.87 times, based on its earnings per share of 3.41 Singapore cents for the financial year ended Dec 31, 2014, and an enlarged share capital of 189.2 million shares.
Post-listing, NauticAWT intends to have dividend payouts of 20 per cent of its net profit for FY15 to FY17. The public offer opens on Wednesday, 9am and closes on July 21, 12pm. The company is expected to be listed on the Catalist board on July 23.
Canaccord Genuity Singapore is the sponsor, issue manager, underwriter and placement agent of the offering.
The IPO is the fourth Catalist listing this year on the Singapore Exchange, which has been facing a dearth of public flotations.
NauticAWT was founded in 2011, and is today present in 11 offices globally. The group offers a wide range of engineering services and contracting solutions for the upstream oil & gas sector.
To date, it has participated in more than 1,500 subsurface and wells engagements and over 100 subsea and surface facilities projects worldwide.
Last year, Asia contributed the bulk of the group's revenue (40.9 per cent). The Middle East (23.7 per cent) and the Americas (24.4 per cent) were also significant markets. Meanwhile, the group's net profit stood at US$4.3 million, up from US$1.3 million in FY2012.
As at June 22, the company's order book was US$34.6 million, which will be recognised over FY2015 and FY2016.
In the present low oil price environment, the group believes that the focus of oil companies will be on producing cheap oil from mature oil & gas fields, rather than undertaking new exploration projects.
Additionally, low oil prices usually result in a decline in the cost of capital-intensive services, such as drilling rigs and barges, thus improving the economics of mature field developments and thereby abandonment work programmes, the group said.
NauticAWT thus sees opportunities in enhancing the life cycle and boosting the production of mature oil & gas fields, as well as sustainable well plugging solutions for abandonment projects.
Annual investment in the oil & gas upstream market is expected to rise steadily to US$850 billion over the next two decades, according to the International Energy Agency.
The group estimates that more than 5,000 wells will need to be decommissioned in South-east Asia over the next five to 10 years, and will require US$5-10 billion worth of expenditure.
NauticAWT's founder and CEO John Gronbech said that the group, with in-house well engineering and drilling experience, coupled with materials technology for creating sustainable plugging of wells, is "well positioned" to be a beneficiary of the South-east Asian market.
