UAE oil rig builder Lamprell forecasts $71m net loss in 2018

UAE-based engineering and contracting services provider Lamprell slid into the red last year, citing margin pressures behind a forecasted $71m (AED261m) net loss for 2018.

According to its unaudited results submitted to the London Stock Exchange on 17 January, the firm expected 2018 revenues to stand at roughly $235m (AED863m). 

A company statement ascribed the predicted loss to a pressure on margins, along with the fact that there has been no contribution from its offshore work on the East Anglia One project.

The net cash position of the company trended downwards during the second half of 2018, as anticipated, with an expected net cash position at year-end of $80m (AED293.8m), the statement added.

However, Lamprell said, the backlog of orders won but not yet delivered had risen from $61.7m (AED226.6m) at the end of 2017 to roughly $540m (AED1.9bn) at the end of 2018.

"Despite the challenges of the market environment in 2018, we have delivered against the objectives that we set out earlier in the year," said Christopher McDonald, Lamprell’s chief executive officer, speaking on the figures.

“We finished the year with a major renewables project added to our order book and two new build jack-up rigs committed for construction at Lamprell's yards in the UAE. The quality and size of our bid pipeline is improving and we look forward to adding further significant projects as part of Saudi Aramco's LTA [Long-Term Agreement] programme during the course of the year.

“Given the ongoing uncertainty in the industry, this reconfirms our confidence that Lamprell's strategy will deliver growth for the business from 2019 onwards."

April 2017 saw Lamprell conclude construction on Abu Dhabi-based National Drilling Company’s (NDC) final jack-up drilling rig, Al Lulu, in a series of nine. Lamprell said Al Lulu, and its delivery to NDC, had been completed within budget and as scheduled.

Source: ConstructionWeekOnline