Half Yearly Report

23 August 2011

James Fisher and Sons plc

Half Year Results 2011

James Fisher and Sons plc ("James Fisher"), the leading marine service provider, announces its results for the six months to 30 June 2011.

* before costs of acquisitions and intangible amortisation

Highlights

·; Encouraging revenue growth of 12% to £148m

·; Specialist mooring and ship to ship oil transfer markets remained strong, particularly in Asia and Africa

·; 26% profit growth in Offshore Oil with all geographies contributing

·; 29% revenue growth in Defence, reflecting the growing success of Subsea activities

·; Improvements in Marine Oil in Q2 and agreed sale of mv Audacity for £2.4m

·; Strong cash flow with financial gearing reduced to 83% (HY 2010: 97%)

Commenting on the results, Chairman, Tim Harris, said:

"These encouraging results confirm the effectiveness of the Company's strategy of taking UK based skills and applying them in the vast and fast growth marine service markets of Asia and the developing world.

We are investing in those companies with the best record and prospects for organic growth and continue to track a number of interesting acquisition prospects. Our cash conversion is strong and with a reasonable level of gearing, we have the ability to invest further in bolt-on acquisitions to strengthen our existing operations.

Trading in the second half to date has been to management expectations and we are well placed to provide further growth and value for our shareholders."

For further information

James Fisher and Sons plc (James Fisher)

Half Yearly Results for the six months ended 30 June 2011

Chairman's Statement

H1 2011

Introduction

The result for the first half of 2011 was encouraging with revenue up 12% to £148 million, underlying operating profit up 9% to £17.4m and adjusted earnings per share up 8% to 23.0p, all compared to H1 2010. Cash flow was strong despite the customary build up in working capital in the busy summer months, with cash generation at 86% and financial gearing reduced to 83% compared to 97% at the half year in 2010. The interim dividend per share has been increased by 6% to 5.34p.

Strategy

James Fisher is the UK's leading marine service company and its strategy is consistent and straightforward - to use its rare marine service skill set to grow niche marine service businesses focused on the global marine sector, particularly in Asia and the other developing markets. This formula has worked well with a strong record of revenue and earnings growth.

A new and positive feature is that Group companies are increasingly working together around the world sharing facilities and bidding together for marine service contracts. We are strengthening our central business development team to take advantage of this trend which underlines a growing complementarity between many of the Group companies' activities as they expand overseas.

Specialist Technical

H1 2011 divisional result £9.3m - H1 2010 £9.9m

As anticipated, the exceptionally strong oil contango market in H1 2010 did not recur in 2011, resulting in a reduction in profit for this division. In other areas, our specialist mooring and ship to ship oil transfer markets remained strong and growing, particularly in Asia and Africa. In H1 2011, a number of larger projects and contracts were secured and delivered at lower margins due to a higher proportion of sub-contract work. During the first half we integrated Strainstall's marine activities into Fendercare so they can benefit from Fendercare's worldwide sales presence. The Australian acquisitions made in 2010 have now settled in and are performing ahead of expectations. Our nuclear business had a challenging first half but it enters the second half with a much stronger order book.

Offshore Oil

H1 2011 divisional result £5.9m - H1 2010 £4.7m

The 26% profit improvement was the result of two factors - an improvement in activity levels in both the Norwegian and UK sectors of the North Sea and, equally importantly, the growth of our operations in the new oil producing sectors of the world. The strong underlying demand for oil should underpin this improvement as the general level of offshore oil activity has picked up significantly this year, with projects that are likely to continue for some time to come.

We continue to invest capital to grow our global activities outside Europe to foster organic growth. We have integrated RigCool, which we bought in H2 2010, into Scan Tech Air Supply with which it has both marketing and operational synergies. This resulted in some modest one-off costs in H1 2011 and we are already beginning to see the benefits coming through.

Defence

H1 2011 divisional result £2.7m - H1 2010 £2.3m

Divisional revenue grew by 29% to £13.0m between H1 2011 and H1 2010, reflecting the growing success of our Subsea activities. In May we announced a £11m contract for a comprehensive modernisation of the Swedish Navy's submarine rescue vehicle known locally as 'URF', demonstrating James Fisher's leadership in the global submarine rescue market. We have also been winning and delivering smaller, submarine related projects which have helped both activity and profitability.

We are continuing to invest substantially in sales and business development to grow our Subsea activities with two main goals. First, to build on our world leading position, to track and win the submarine rescue systems opportunities as they arise. Secondly, to broaden our product range to swimmer delivery systems with defence capabilities, a spin-off for which we have received considerable interest.

In contrast to our Subsea activities which are growing fast and about which we are most confident, we have made little progress in achieving further surface specialist ship outsourcing. So far the Government has appeared to favour other targets when setting its priorities.

Marine Oil

H1 2011 divisional result £0.9m - H1 2010 £0.6m

After a poor first quarter, there was a modest improvement in the period leading up to the half year. This division is that most affected by the sluggishness of the UK and Irish economies. The challenges have been twofold - firstly that the demand for refined petroleum products has been at best flat and secondly that our exposure to spot market cargoes has been too high. Our policy is to reduce our fleet so that it matches our contract cover and to that end, in July, we agreed terms for the sale of mv Audacity (3,000 tonnes) for £2.4 million and the cessation of the bareboat charter for and subsequent sale of mv Pembroke Fisher (15,000 tonnes). Although the net effect of these two transactions is likely to be a book loss of c £600,000, they should result in better fleet utilisation.

Marine Oil now accounts for a declining share of the Company's net assets which is currently 18%. However, we enjoy a substantial contract cover from blue chip customers, its cash generation from the division is good - £4.9m in H1 2011 despite poor profit performance - and its profits are effectively tax free under the tonnage tax provisions. Finally, the overcapacity that has so disrupted European spot rates since the 2008 financial crisis is gradually working its way through and there has been a modest improvement in spot rates.

Board and staff

Anthony Cooke, the Senior Non Executive Director, will be retiring from the Board at the end of the year after ten years service as a director. I would like to thank Anthony for his wisdom, advice and humour over ten productive years during which the share price has increased over five times despite the worst economic crisis since the War. Charles Rice, who joined the Board in 2004, will replace Anthony as Senior Non Executive Director and Malcolm Paul, who joined the Board in February 2011, will replace him as Chairman of the Audit Committee.

The Company continues to grow quickly and I would like to thank all the staff and most particularly the managers who have made this happen. A service business is inherently one in which people make the critical difference and James Fisher is fortunate to have so many talented and committed staff. Their contribution is greatly appreciated.

Outlook

The first half result confirms the effectiveness of the Company's strategy of taking UK based skills and applying them in the vast and fast growing marine service markets of Asia and the developing world. It is also encouraging that two of the problems noted in last year's results have shown improvement - the recovery in offshore activity and the prospects for our nuclear business.

The Specialist Technical division has often led the Group's expansion into new global markets. The other divisions are following and we now have joint presences in Singapore, the Middle East, Angola, Australia and Brazil. We expect this process which underpins our growth plans to continue and deepen.

In Offshore Oil, the anticipated improvement in the North Sea markets has now fed through into the financial results and we expect this to continue. Our expansion worldwide, particularly through Scan Tech Air Supply and RMSpumptools, is ongoing and represents a proven source of organic growth.

The Subsea operations of our Defence division are growing fast as we benefit from the credibility built up since the rescue of the seven Russian submariners in 2005 and the successful delivery and operation of a number of submarine rescue systems worldwide. It is noteworthy that we are now branching out into other forms of defence related swimmer delivery vehicles which have the potential to make this division much larger.

Growth on the surface ship side has been slow, although Foreland represents a steady stream of cash and profit. However there is uncertainty, as we commented last year, as to the rate at which two of its roll-on, roll-off vessels, whose charters come up for renewal in 2012, will be fixed.

We are investing capital in those companies with the best record and prospects for organic growth and continue to track a number of interesting acquisition prospects. Our cash conversion is strong and with a reasonable level of gearing, we have the ability to invest further in bolt-on acquisitions to strengthen our existing operations.

Trading in the second half to date has been to management expectations and we are well placed to provide further growth and value for our shareholders.

Tim Harris

22 August 2011

Directors' Responsibilities

We confirm to the best of our knowledge:

The half yearly financial report has been prepared in accordance with IAS 34 "Interim Financial Reporting" as adopted by the European Union.

The interim management report includes a fair review of the information required by:

(a) DTR 4.2.7R of the "Disclosure and Transparency Rules", being an indication of important events that have occurred during the first six months of the financial year and their impact on the condensed set of financial statements; and a description of the principal risks and uncertainties for the remaining six months of the year; and

(b) DTR 4.2.8R of the "Disclosure and Transparency Rules", being related party transactions that have taken place in the first six months of the current financial year and that have materially affected the financial position or performance of the entity during the period; and any changes in the related party transactions described in the last annual report that could do so.

T C Harris

Chairman

S C Kilpatrick

Group Finance Director

For and on behalf of the Board of Directors

CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED HALF YEARLY INCOME STATEMENT

For the six months ended 30 June 2011

CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED HALF YEARLY STATEMENT OF COMPREHENSIVE INCOME

For the six months ended 30 June 2011

CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED HALF YEARLY BALANCE SHEET

At 30 June 2011

CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED HALF YEARLY STATEMENT OF CASH FLOW

For the six months ended 30 June 2011

CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED HALF YEARLY STATEMENT OF MOVEMENTS IN EQUITY

For the six months ended 30 June 2011

NOTES TO THE CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED HALF YEARLY STATEMENTS

1 Basis of preparation

James Fisher and Sons Public Limited Company (the Company) is a limited liability company incorporated and domiciled in England and Wales and whose shares are listed on the London Stock Exchange. The condensed consolidated half yearly financial statements of the Company as at and for the six months ended 30 June 2011 comprise the Company and its subsidiaries (together referred to as the Group) and the Group's interests in jointly controlled entities.

After making enquires, the directors have a reasonable expectation that the Company and the Group have adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future. Accordingly they continue to adopt the going concern basis in preparing the condensed consolidated financial statements.

The Group meets its day to day working capital requirements through operating cash flows, with borrowings in place to fund acquisitions and capital expenditure. Movements on the Group's overall net debt position are shown in note 7. The Group also has £24,500,000 of undrawn committed facilities. This includes £12,500,000 of facilities which expire on 30 November 2011 and are not being renewed.

The Group has two revolving credit facilities due for renewal in 2012; a £10,000,000 facility which ends on 11 August 2012 and a £20,000,000 facility which expires on 23 August 2012. These facilities are fully drawn down at 30 June 2011.The Group will open renewal negotiations with the banks in due course and has not sought any written commitment that the facilities will be renewed. However, the Group has held discussions with its bankers about its future borrowing needs and no matters have been drawn to its attention to suggest the renewals would not be forthcoming on acceptable terms.

The consolidated financial statements of the Group as at and for the year ended 31 December 2010 are available upon request from the Company's registered office at Fisher House, PO Box 4, Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria LA14 1HR or at www.james-fisher.co.uk.

The half yearly financial information is presented in Sterling and all values are rounded to the nearest thousand pounds (£000) except when otherwise indicated.

Statement of compliance

The condensed consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standard (IFRS) IAS 34 "Interim Financial Reporting" as adopted by the European Union (EU). As required by the Disclosure and Transparency Rules of the Financial Services Authority, the condensed consolidated set of financial statements has been prepared applying the accounting policies and presentation that were applied in the preparation of the Company's published consolidated financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2010 with the exceptions described below. They do not include all of the information required for full annual financial statements, and should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements of the Group as at and for the year ended 31 December 2010.

The comparative figures for the financial year ended 31 December 2010 are not the Company's statutory accounts for that financial year. Those accounts which were prepared under International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) as adopted by the EU (adopted IFRS), have been reported on by the Company's auditors and delivered to the Registrar of companies. The report of the auditors was (i) unqualified; (ii) did not include a reference to any matters to which the auditors drew attention by way of emphasis without qualifying their report, and (iii) did not contain a statement under section 498 (2) or (3) of the Companies Act 2006.

The half yearly report was approved for issue by the Board of Directors on 22 August 2011.

Significant accounting policies

Except as described below, the accounting policies applied by the Group in these condensed consolidated financial statements are the same as those applied by the Group in its consolidated financial statements as at and for the year ended 31 December 2010.

During the period the Group has adopted the following new standards, amendments to standards and interpretations issued under IFRS:

Standards:

Amendments to:

IAS 24 Related Party Disclosures (revised 2009)

Improvements to IFRS 2010

Interpretations:

IFRIC 14 Prepayments of a Minimum Funding requirement

The adoption of these standards and interpretations had no impact on the Group other than those set out below.

Following the closure of its principal defined benefit scheme in 2010 the Group has reviewed its accounting for the cost of pensions. The charges to the income statement now relate mainly to the unwinding of the discount rate on the scheme liability and the return on investments. These elements are more similar to a financing cost than an operating expense in nature and consequently the Group has decided that these costs should be included as part of finance costs rather than operating profit where they have previously been reported. The impact of this change is explained in note 13.

Seasonality of operations

Although some of the Group's operations may sometimes be affected by seasonal factors such as general weather conditions, the Directors do not feel that this has a material effect on the performance of the Group when comparing the interim results to those achieved in the second half of the year.

2 Segmental information

Operating segments

Management has determined the operating segments based on the reports reviewed by the Board that are utilised to make strategic decisions. The Board considers the business primarily from the products and services perspective and has four reportable segments;

Specialist Technical Services - Includes the hire and sale of large scale pneumatic fenders and ship to ship transfer services, the design and supply of systems for monitoring strains and stress in structures and equipment and non-destructive testing, decommissioning and remote operations and monitoring services predominantly to the Nuclear industry.

Offshore Oil Services - manufacture and rental of equipment for the offshore oil and gas industry and the design and manufacture of specialist downhole tools and equipment for extracting oil.

Defence - provision of marine services to the Ministry of Defence (MoD) and other navies including UK submarine rescue services, maintenance, asset management and consultancy services, a joint venture which provides military strategic sealift capability via its operation of six roll-on roll-off vessels for the MoD, and joint ventures which provides submarine rescue services to the Government of Singapore.

Marine Oil Services - engaged in the sea transportation of clean petroleum products in North West Europe.

The Board assesses the performance of the segments based on operating profit before central common costs, acquisition costs and amortisation of intangible assets but after the Group's share of the post tax results of associates and joint ventures. The Board believes that such information is the most relevant in evaluating the results of certain segments relative to other entities which operate within these industries.

Inter segmental sales are made using prices determined on an arms length basis.

No individual customer accounted for more than 10% of external revenue in the periods included in these condensed consolidated financial statements.

Information on operating segments relating to 2010 has been revised to reflect the changes to accounting for pension costs referred to in note 1 above. Segmental information has also been revised to transfer the recognition of income relating to the service contract between James Fisher Everard and James Fisher Shipping Services from the Specialist Technical Services to Marine Oil Services. The effect for the period ended December 2010 is to increase the segmental profits attributable to the Specialist Technical Services by £299,000 for the period ended 30 June 2010 and £581,000 for the year ended 31 December 2010 and reduce the segmental profits attributable to Marine Oil Services by the same amount.

2 Segmental information (continued)