Norwegian offshore vessels provider, GC Rieber Shipping, has recognised quarterly loss of NOK 93.7 million, compared with NOK 36.3 million loss in the first quarter of 2015, due to low activity levels.
“The negative result in the first quarter 2016 is mostly due to low activity in the subsea and seismic segments,” the company said in its earnings report.
The Oslo-listed firm, which operates a fleet of 13 vessels, generated operating income of NOK 86.8 million in the first quarter of 2016. This result compares with approximately NOK 224 million same time last year. The notable drop is due to decline of fleet capacity utilization, down from 84 per cent in the fourth quarter 2015 to 46 per cent in Q1 2016.
At the end of the first quarter, GC Rieber had a contract backlog of NOK 0.7 billion versus NOK 3.5 billion in the corresponding period in 2015. The bankruptcy of Dolphin Geophysical in December 2015 made a major dent in Rieber’s contract backlog.
“The subsea market is hesitant, with increased pressure on prices and the main focus is on securing short to medium contracts in order to maintain a satisfactory level of activities in the segment,” Rieber added.
Subsea World News Staff