Vallianz Q1 profit up 5% to US$4.97 million

SINGAPORE - Mainboard-listed Vallianz Holdings announced on Monday a 5 per cent increase in net profit to US$4.97 million (S$6.61 million) for the first quarter ended March 31, 2015, from the same period a year ago.

Higher gross profit and share of profit of associate, though, was offset by higher administrative expenses of acquired subsidiaries and increased finance costs.

Revenue jumped 119 per cent to US$60.73 million from US$27.71 million in the year-ago period due to higher revenue from charter and brokerage services as well as ship management and shipyard services,

The firm attributed the revenue growth from ship management and shipyard services to contributions from Jetlee Group, OER Group and Newcruz Group, which were acquired in the last quarter of 2014.

The group also recorded maiden profit contribution of US$1.04 million from its 49 per cent-owned associate, PT Vallianz Offshore Maritim, which the group acquired in December 2014 as a platform to penetrate the cabotage-protected market in Indonesia.

Said CEO Ling Yong Wah: "Vallianz was still able to deliver a respectable set of results in 1Q2015 amid one of the toughest periods in the history of the oil and gas industry. We believe our resilient performance can be attributed to the robust business model that we have built for the group.

"Vallianz's OSV chartering business focuses on supporting shallow water oilfield activities which are less susceptible to capital expenditure reductions of the oil companies compared to projects in deep water oil fields. The group also has a successful record of securing mainly long term charter contracts of between three and five years which provide stable revenue streams. In addition, the group serves primarily national oil companies which have less volatile exploration and production spending patterns."

Based on higher weighted average number of shares, earnings per share came in at 0.15 US cent from 0.32 US cent.

No dividend was recommended for the period, unchanged from a year ago.

At the end of March 2015, the group's vessel chartering business had a fleet of 39 offshore support vessels.

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