James Fisher upbeat after strong first quarter

MARINE services group James Fisher said it has made a good start to the year and is trading in line with management expectations.

In an AGM statement covering the period since January 1, the Barrow-in-Furness-based group said first quarter revenues in its offshore oil and specialist technical divisions were “strongly ahead” of last year.

The marine support arm has had a slower start to the year with a number of projects being weighted to the second half.  During the period the group has completed two acquisitions – Subsea Vision for £2.5m to broaden its marine services capabilities and DCE for £3.7m.

DCE makes swimmer delivery vehicles which are small submersibles used by the military to transport frogmen underwater over long distances.

The company said: “James Fisher’s proven strategy of focusing on the fast growing marine services markets across the world should continue to produce further growth and value for our shareholders in 2014.”