Mermaid weaker

Mermaid Maritime, the Thoresen Thai offshore arm, has seen third quarter profits slip nearly 28% from a year ago.

Mermaid's results were impacted by foreign exchange losses

A swing from a foreign exchange gain of THB225.8m in 2008 to a loss of THB35.7m in the latest quarter was the main contributor.

Revenues for the third quarter were largely unchanged from twelve months ago up just over 1.6% to THB1.4bn.

Operating costs fell by nearly 10% to THB927.5m, while operating profits declined by nearly 15% to THB391.2m.

Profits for the nine months to-date were down 27.5% on a year ago to THB588m, while revenues increased 10.6% to THB3.9bn.

Mermaid said offshore tender rig market activity levels remained the same as the previous quarter.

However, it said “several oil and gas companies” are already discussing their future needs, which it took as an “encouraging sign”.

Mermaid also believes that day rates in the sector may have “bottomed out” and expects to see future contracts awarded at increased rates.

Similar signs have been seen in the subsea engineering sector with Mermaid reporting a “vast amount of tendering activity”.

“During this quarter, we have seen utilisation levels increases vis-à-vis the first two quarters and expect this renewed utilisation to continue for the foreseeable future.”

“The subsea sector in general is not experiencing downward pressure on day rates and in some cases we have witnessed marginal day rate increases for more technical vessels,” Mermaid said.

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