SINGAPORE - Offshore oil and gas contractor Dyna-Mac Holdings on Thursday (Feb 28) posted a net profit of $129,000 for the fourth-quarter, reversing from a loss of $21.9 million a year ago, on the back of higher revenue and a reduction in costs.

Earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter came in at 0.01 cent, from a loss per share (LPS) of 2.14 cents previously.

Dyna-Mac shares closed at 10.1 cents apiece on Thursday, up 9.8 per cent, or 0.9 cent, before the release of its results.

No dividend has been declared, unchanged from the preceding year. "After deliberation, the board has adopted a prudent approach to conserve cash amidst the current challenging business environment. As such, no interim and final dividend has been declared for FY2018," Dyna-Mac said.

For the three months ended Dec 31, revenue rose 44.4 per cent to $15.8 million, mainly due to higher earnings recognised from projects for the fourth-quarter, the company said.

Gross profit stood at $6.1 million versus a loss of $14.8 million last year, mainly due to a reduction in cost of sales. This came as a result of recognising unused inventory of $11.7 million from previously completed projects, Dyna-Mac said.

Other expenses also fell by 79 per cent, or $2.3 million, to $0.6 million for the quarter, mainly attributable to an absence of foreign exchange loss, but offset by a valuation loss of $0.6 million.

For the full year, Dyna-Mac swung back into the black with a net profit of $1.5 million, versus a net loss of $57.2 million a year earlier. This comes as revenue more than tripled from $33 million in FY2017 to $114.3 million in FY2018.

EPS for the 12-month period stood at 0.15 cent, compared to a LPS of 5.59 cents previously.

Looking ahead, Dyna-Mac noted that conditions in the oil and gas industry remains challenging, with projects being deferred, rescheduled or even cancelled.

Nonetheless, the group remains positive over the long-term prospects of the industry, and will continue to secure new orders in its segment, as well as in other segments such as land module and power plant projects, it said.

It added that it is now in the final stages of concluding several projects, which are expected to bring its net order book of $7 million as at Feb 28 to a net order book in excess of $100 million.

The company has a market cap of about $102.3 million.