PLEXUS Holdings, the well technology firm, has achieved record profits in a year when the oil and gas industry was rocked by the plunge in the crude price.
Aberdeen-based Plexus made £5.9 million pre-tax profit in the year to June compared with £5.4m in the preceding year.
Sales increased to £28.5m, from £27m.
The period covered by the results was marked by the crude price tumbling from $115 per barrel in June last year, to around $65/bbl a year later.
The price has fallen to $49/bbl since the period end amid plentiful supplies and muted demand.
While oil and gas firms slashed spending in response to the price fall, Plexus won a growing following for its technology in the year to June. The company says its POS-GRIP system offers more cost effective way of joining well components than alternatives.
Plexus won contracts from Centrica and BG in the core North Sea market in the latest year.
In June the Aim-listed firm won a deal to supply equipment to Total for use off Norway, on what is thought will be the highest pressure well ever drilled in the North Sea.
However, chief executive Ben van Bilderbeek said of the current year: “ Trading conditions are more challenging given the significant reduction in the oil price and related on-going economic pressures which surround the oil and gas industry ... and this cannot be ignored. This is especially the case in the UK North Sea which traditionally has been an important market for us.”
Noting estimates that a further 24 billion barrels may be left to be recovered from the North Sea, the entrepreneur added: “Logic dictates there is much drilling activity to come.”
Plexus has mounted a push for growth in overseas markets such as Asia, to reduce its reliance on the North Sea.
In July China’s Yantai Jereh Oilfield Services Group invested £8m in Plexus for a five per cent stake and signed a licensing deal with the firm.
Finance director Graham Stevens said Plexus has a strong balance sheet and is well placed to withstand the downturn in the industry.
Signalling confidence the company proposed a final dividend of 1.75p per share, up from 0.62p last time.
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