Yard merger, Brazil probe may take centre stage this O&M results season

SOME analysts covering the offshore and marine sector are finding the upcoming results reporting season for the two major players in the offshore sector unusual. SembMarine's second quarter results briefing is scheduled for this Friday, just after Keppel Corporation's on Thursday. This is atypical: SembMarine generally releases its quarterly results one week after Keppel Corp.

This back-to-back unveiling of results has rekindled speculation among market watchers over two issues.

The first pertains to the long-standing rumour of a merger between Keppel Offshore & Marine (O&M) and Sembcorp Marine.

One analyst has, however, dismissed that possibility. OCBC Research's Low Pei Han remarked: "Unless the results released for both Keppel Co…