Offshore services player Helix Energy Solutions has seen profit increase in the third quarter of 2018, compared to the same period in 2017.
Helix reported net income of $27.1 million, or $0.18 per diluted share, for the third quarter of 2018 compared to net income of $2.3 million, or $0.02 per diluted share, for the same period in 2017.
Net income for the nine months ended September 30, 2018 was $42.3 million, or $0.29 per diluted share, compared to a net loss of $20.5 million, or $(0.14) per diluted share, for the nine months ended September 30, 2017.
In the Well Intervention segment revenues increased $42.9 million, or 38%, in the third quarter of 2018 compared to the third quarter of 2017. The increase is primarily due to 92 additional vessel days in the third quarter of 2018 compared to the third quarter of 2017, as well as higher overall vessel utilization of 91% in the third quarter of 2018 compared to 88% in the corresponding period in 2017.
In the Robotics segment revenue increased 15% in the third quarter of 2018 from the third quarter of 2017. Vessel utilization was 98% in the third quarter of 2018 compared to 80% in the third quarter of 2017.
ROV asset utilization decreased to 42% in the third quarter of 2018 from 46% in the comparable period of 2017, however, the third quarter of 2018 included 128 additional trenching days compared to the same quarter in 2017.
Owen Kratz , president and chief executive officer of Helix, said, “The sequential improvement in our financial performance resulted primarily from improvements in our Robotics segment, with increased trenching operations during the quarter and near full utilization of our chartered vessel fleet. Our Well Intervention segment saw continued strong operational performance and high utilization of our intervention vessels, despite lower IRS rental unit utilization and idle time between projects on our Q4000 vessel. In the fourth quarter our operations will be impacted by the normal winter slowdown in the North Sea and expected low activity levels in the Gulf of Mexico. Our market is still weak and challenging, but we remain committed to finishing the year with strong operational execution and cost discipline.”