Marine

The Marine business performed well despite challenging trading conditions. The order book stands at £4.3bn reflecting new orders of £600m and modest cancellations of £250m. Activity in the offshore oil and gas sector remains encouraging, with continued deepwater developments in a number of major offshore locations including Brazil, West Africa and Russia.

Major first-half developments included:

• The expansion of Marine’s service capability, with two new centres opening in the US, one each in Brazil and Italy and a further three underway in Canada, UAE and West Africa. A new customer training facility is also being developed in Norway.
• The launch of the next generation UT deepwater anchor handling design for the offshore industry.
• Entry into service of the world’s most powerful offshore vessel, the Far Samson, designed and equipped by Rolls-Royce.
• The further extension of Marine’s presence in the offshore sector with a 33 per cent investment in ODIM ASA.

The first-half saw strong growth in both original equipment revenues, which increased by 23 per cent, and service revenues, up by 15 per cent. Services growth reflected the increasing installed base of equipment and the expanding service network.

Margins have been maintained despite some negative one-offs in the period. A combination of improving operational performance, lower input costs and more favourable contract pricing all contributed to a 26 per cent increase in underlying profits in the first-half.

Outlook

The order book remains strong despite a slow down in new order activity. Marine’s market leading position in the offshore sector, demand for high specification vessels and the opportunity to continue to develop services, provide good visibility of future revenues and support continuing strong growth in margins and profitability for the full year.