Offshore services group Ezra Holdings has posted a 68 per cent decline in net profit for the three months ended May 31 over the same quarter a year ago.

Despite revenue rising 19 per cent in the period to US$317.1 million (S$402.1 million), earnings were eroded by a 42 per cent jump in costs, Ezra's financials showed on Friday.

This led to net profit attributable to shareholders falling in the third quarter to US$7.2 million from US$22.4 million a year ago.

The company said revenue growth was driven largely by an increase in the number and value of projects undertaken by Ezra's subsea services division, as well as higher-value projects secured by its marine services division.

However, operations at the group's offshore support division were affected by vessel offhire during various periods of the quarter. As of May 31, eight offshore vessels were offhire, although most have since been redeployed.

The subsea division also "experienced some delays in project execution due to the rescheduling for the delivery of some projects for clients and the recognition of additional unexpected costs for certain other projects", Ezra said.

"We experienced a rather challenging quarter on the operations front," said managing director Lionel Lee in a statement.

"Despite the challenges, we strengthened our foothold in the subsea sector as we continue to gain recognition from key oil & gas companies for our subsea engineering and execution capabilities, as well as enabling assets.

For the nine months ended May 31, revenue rose 28 per cent to US$842.9 million, but net profit fell 24 per cent to $43.6 million.

Ezra's earnings per share were 4.48 US cents for the nine-month period, down from 6.47 US cent the previous year. Group net asset value per share rose to $1.16 as at May 31, up from 83 cents a year ago.

Meanwhile, Ezra also said on Friday that its subsea services division clinched a US$126 million contract from Statoil for the transport and installation of floating storage units for projects in the North Sea.