7th Jul 2020 12:15
(Alliance News) - James Fisher & Sons PLC on Tuesday said it revenue for its second quarter, and therefore its first half was lower year-on-year despite a resilient performance amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
The FTSE 250-listed marine engineering company said revenue for the second quarter was 18% lower than the comparative period in 2019, with revenue for the first half to the end of June 10% lower than GBP286.9 million recorded for the year prior.
James Fisher said its trading was hurt by the Covid-19 crisis, with the negative effects further exacerbated by a sharp fall in the price of oil. It stated that the imbalance between supply and demand in the oil & gas sector has continued to place downward pressure on oil prices, adding that it believes this may continue for some time.
In the second quarter, its Marine Support division experienced supply chain challenges and saw subsea service projects being deferred with the lower first half financial performance resulting in a decision to restructure the division, reduce the cost base and "refresh the management structure".
The Specialist Technical division performed "satisfactorily" despite supply chain issues. The Tankships division traded well through the first four months of 2020, however shipments of clean petroleum products reduced during May and June as a result of the UK and Irish lockdown. The Offshore Oil division traded "well" and is expected to report improved profitability in the first half of 2020 compared to the first half of 2019.
Looking ahead, the company located in Barrow-in-Furness, north-west England said it soon plans to stop using the government's furlough scheme and plans to repay salary deferrals for 800 employees except to board members and the executive committee who accepted 20% pay cuts. The payment of full salaries commenced last Wednesday.
As at June 30, James Fisher had net debt of GBP15 million, down from GBP203 million at the end of 2019.
Full unaudited results for the half year will be published on August 25.
The stock was trading 2.3% lower at 1,368.00 pence each midday Tuesday in London and 33% lower than at the start of the year.
By Ife Taiwo; [email protected].
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