Smooth sailing for Bumi Armada in rough seas

RESILIENCE may best describe Malaysian-listed Bumi Armada, an offshore oilfield services firm with a presence in 19 countries and controlled by the country's second richest man T Ananda Krishnan.

International oil prices have plunged by 30 per cent since June. Two places where Bumi Armada has a presence are in turmoil - Ukraine is locked in geopolitical conflict with Russia while West Africa is at the epicentre of the deadly Ebola outbreak.

Yet, Bumi Armada, the world's fifth largest floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) maker with a market capitalisation of around RM9 billion (S$3.5 billion), hardly appears caught up by all that gloom.

Shielding the company from such vagaries are firm, long-term contracts that last from 10 to 20 years and an impressive orderbook backlog worth a wh…