Exclude non-cash impairment charges to non-core vessels and half-year net profits at Gulf Marine Services (GMS) increased by a fifth to $41.9m (£32m) in an operationally fraught six months to June. That result helped to send shares in the provider of self-propelled self-elevating support vessels (SESV) up by 11 per cent in the face of an "uncertain" market, which remains dogged by oil producers' cuts to capital expenditure and offshore exploration.
As previously noted, this backdrop has led to early terminations to three of Gulf Marine's contracts later in 2016, and a SESV utilisation rate of just 89 per cent, down from 98 per cent a year ago. However, GMS has made some headway in re-building the backlog, signing a one-year contract for one of its mid-size class vessels with a national oil company, a 12-month extension for a small class vessel, both in the Middle East and north Africa (MENA) region, as well as a letter of intent for an 18-month contract on a large class vessel in Europe. The Middle East looks the likely source of a business recovery, as Gulf Marine is seeing robust tender opportunities in the region.