Polarcus Limited announces the release of its first quarter 2011 financial statements.
In the first quarter 2011 Polarcus has continued to deliver on its growth strategy, expanding the Company’s operations, fleet and backlog, and securing new financing. Compared with the previous quarter, revenues were lower due to the inclusion of transits on newly delivered vessels and very poor weather conditions which caused damage to in-sea equipment and increased technical downtime. Following this downtime a number of areas of improvement have been identified and technical performance has improved significantly where these have been implemented.
Rolf Ronningen, CEO Polarcus, commented: “ We have been adversely impacted in this first quarter by some abnormally severe weather in the Falkland Islands and offshore Namibia. Technical improvements to our in-sea equipment have already started to bear fruit and we are confident performance will improve going forward. We are further pleased to see our backlog extending through the third quarter and our client base growing .”
Highlights in the first quarter 2011:
*Revenue of USD 48.0 million and EBITDA of USD 4.6 million with three vessels in operation. Positive net cash flow from operating activities of USD 12.2 million.
*Took delivery in March of Polarcus Samur and Polarcus Alima. The vessels sailed straight from the shipyard to their first projects in South West Africa and East Coast India respectively.
*Compared with the previous quarter, revenues were lower due to the inclusion of transits on newly delivered vessels and very poor weather conditions which caused damage to in-sea equipment and increased technical downtime. Operating expenses were higher than normal due to operations being concentrated in very remote locations and increased fuel prices.
*Exercised the option to reacquire Polarcus Selma, financed through a USD 125 million convertible bond raised in April. Following the latest acquisition, the Polarcus high-end 3D/4D marine seismic fleet will comprise eight vessels. The projected Company market share after delivery of all vessels in 2012 will be 13%.
*Vessel backlog extended through Q3, including the first Polarcus 3D multi-client project in the UK that is supported through significant industry pre-funding.
[mappress] Source: polarcus, April 28, 2011;