James Fisher posts strong profit increase
MARINE services and shipping specialist James Fisher & Sons has posted more than a 25% rise in both a profit and turnover for the year, thanks to strong organic growth in its marine support divisions.
The Barrow-in-Furness business made a pre-tax profit of £24.2m for the year to the end of December 2008 – a 26% increase on the £19.2m made in 2007, while turnover increased by 28% to £233.6m (2007: £182m).
While the marine support divisions of Offshore Oil, Specialist Technical Services and Defence, performed strongly, with specialist technical services for example seeing a 71% increase in operating profit, the company said its Marine Oil division’s results were disappointing, and the result of operational problems relating to the introduction of new tonnage rather than a shortfall in demand.
The company said the weak pound is of overall benefit because a large part of the revenue of its Offshore and Specialist Technical divisions is in US dollars or Norwegian kroner but this is tempered to some extent by a negative impact on Marine Oil.
James Fisher added that it has recently finalised a new facility with Barclays Bank for £25m which it said will allow it to pursue further expansion opportunities.
It also said that credit lines remain strong and that it has “plenty of headroom” on its banking covenants.
Chairman Tim Harris, said: “2008 proved to be an excellent year for James Fisher. Group revenue and profit from operations were both up strongly and, once again, our cash flow was impressive. The key to our performance was good organic growth in the marine support divisions of Offshore Oil, Specialist Technical Services and Defence.
“It is difficult to comment too definitively in an economic climate which is changing rapidly and mainly for the worse. However, the immediate outlook for the divisions has not changed from last year and the company in 2009 is trading to management expectations. On present evidence the company is well placed, with a proven track record, to continue to produce good growth and further value for our shareholders.”
Yesterday, James Fisher sold its Reanco Team AS business and assets for £1.2m, excluding cash and freehold property. Completion of the disposal and is expected next month.
The Reanco business, which is involved in the fabrication of offshore rig living quarters, forms part of the Offshore Oil Services division. The company said it is not considered to be part of the core activities of the division.
