SapuraKencana Petroleum Berhad Posts Robust First Half 2015 Results
Date: 25.09.2014.

KUALA LUMPUR, 25 SEPTEMBER 2014

Tan Sri Dato' Seri Shahril Shamsuddin, President and Group CEO commented:

“I am very pleased to announce that we have achieved a record profit before tax of RM 1.2 billion for the first half of this financial year. Our solid performance in the first six months demonstrates the continued success of our business.

The Drilling division continues to be a strong contributor to the Group’s profits and cash flows, due to high utilisation rates of our tender and semi tender rigs backed by long-term contracts.

The Offshore Construction and Subsea Services (“OCSS”) division clocked a key milestone in our international operations, by starting in Brazil ahead of schedule. The first of our six pipe-lay support vessels (PLSV) commenced operations for Petrobras in June 2014.

Jointly, OCSS and Fabrication and Hook-Up & Commissioning (”FHUC”) divisions have, in recent months, secured various major EPCIC/EPCC contract wins within the region with a total value of RM 1.5 billion. The contracts involve the fabrication and installation of topsides and jackets amounting to 19,300 metric tonnes.

The Energy Services division recently announced major gas discoveries within the SK408 exploration block where all five exploration wells have commercial volumes in place. This exceptional rate of discoveries has significantly augmented our discovered resources in place since the completion of the Newfield acquisition in February.

In 2015, SapuraKencana Energy will drill another five wells in SK408 on the same play and is optimistic that further significant discoveries will be made in this prolific gas block.

Our cash balance has increased from RM 1.4 billion to RM 1.6 billion in the last 6 months, with all divisions generating positive cash flows for the Group. We are comfortable with the fact that the Group’s investments continue to deliver strong EBIDTA to service our debt and planned reduction of current gearing levels.

After two years of focus on reinvesting for growth, in the last quarter we were pleased to have declared a dividend of 2.35 sen, comprising a special dividend of 1 sen per share and interim dividend of 1.35 sen per share, which had been paid to shareholders in July 2014.

The Group maintains a healthy order book which stands at RM 27 billion and is optimistic of our ability to capture further growth opportunities in key growth regions. The producing upstream assets will continue to positively contribute to the Group’s results.

The Board remains confident on prospects of the Group going forward.

Highlights

  • SapuraKencana Petroleum Berhad reports 1HFY2015 revenue of RM 5.1 billion, an increase of 25% compared to previous year 1HFY2014. (Q2FY2015 of RM 2.7 billion, an increase of 8% compared to Q2FY2014)
  • SapuraKencana Petroleum Berhad reports 1HFY2015 EBITDA of RM 1.9 billion, an increase of 110% compared to previous year 1HFY2014. (Q2FY2015 of RM 896 million, an increase of 39% compared to Q2FY2014)
  • SapuraKencana Petroleum Berhad reports 1HFY2015 profit before tax of RM 1.2 billion, an increase of 91% compared to 1HFY2014. (Q2FY2015 of RM 527 million, an increase of 17% compared to Q2FY2014) and earnings per share of 15.94 sen for 1HFY2015 (7.44 sen for current quarter).

SKPBSept2014