Marine specialist’s profits rise to £45.8m
Barrow-in-Furness marine company James Fisher has enjoyed an 11% increase in pre-tax profits to £45.8m and a 6% boost to revenue to £466m.
The company is reporting strong underlying growth in its marine support, specialist technical and tankships divisions in the year to December 31.
As a result, undiluted earnings per share have risen 11% to 76.3p.
Chief executive Nick Henry said the growth reflected the “continued resilience of the James Fisher business model with its well-balanced spread of activities across the marine sector and international markets”.
“This is supported by a robust balance sheet and consistently strong cash generation,” he said.
“Our marine support and specialist technical divisions have started 2017 with strong order books and a number of active prospects.
“Trading volumes in tankships are stable and we are seeing some early signs of improved activity in offshore oil. We therefore have a positive view of the year ahead and are confident of the group’s potential to provide further growth and value for our shareholders in the future.”
Meanwhile, the company has also announced that its joint venture company Wuhu Divex Diving Systems Ltd, has been awarded a contract by Shanghai Salvage to supply a mobile, 12-man saturation diving system capable of diving to depths of 300 metres.
The system is due for delivery in the second half of 2018. Mobile systems can be deployed on several vessels in the Shanghai Salvage fleet and support salvage, subsea installation and intervention projects in an efficient and cost-effective manner.
Government-owned Shanghai Salvage is one of the biggest professional salvage companies in China and in November 2016, the group’s subsidiary, JFD, was awarded a contract to build a 24 man saturation diving system rated for diving support to depths of 500 metres.
