PIPELINE engineering specialist STATS (UK) Ltd increased revenue to just under £50 million and signalled growth with potentially more work in renewables and energy transition.
The Scotland-based firm operating in the North Sea and overseas said revenue increased by £7.2m to £49.7m, which is up 17 per cent from £42.5m, while earnings rose by £1.3m, according to trading results for the year to 31 December 2021.
The group’s pre-tax profits rose from £1m to £1.5m.
Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation rose to £7.8m from £6.5m, its latest annual accounts show.
Headquartered in Kintore, near Aberdeen, the group provides specialist engineering services for the maintenance, integrity and repair of oil, gas and petrochemical installations and infrastructure.
STATS' principal activity is the provision of pressurised pipeline isolation, hot tapping and plugging services to the energy industry.
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Leigh Howarth, STATS Group chief executive, said the company had delivered “an excellent trading result for the year” despite the ongoing impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
Head count is up from 258 in 2020 to 325, with 150 based in the United Kingdom, but with projects usually extending over the longer term the company has not seen influence on its business from the oil price change, it said.
Mr Howarth said: “We have not seen any material impact from heightened oil prices on our business in the UK, however what we have received encouraging inquiries and held conversations around Carbon Capture and Storage, and our ability to help businesses engaged in energy transition in terms of isolating high pressure CO2 pipelines.”
He also said: “Internationalisation remains a key strategic objective for the group with 87% of revenue in the year derived from contracts executed outside of the UK. The Middle East was one of the strongest performing regions with revenues increasing from £7.9m in 2020 to £11.6m, while in Malaysia income rose sharply to £1.4m. The group consolidated growth in its domestic UK market with revenues up from £5.1m to £6.7m, while the Canadian market grew from £6.7m to £7.8m.”
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In the UKCS, the company completed the largest number of simultaneous pipeline isolation projects in its 24-year history, delivering six concurrent North Sea pipeline shutdown campaigns on behalf of several clients.
STATS recorded a number of important operational milestones, including its continued expansion in the North American market and development of new client relationships in the US.
In the Saudi Arabian market, the company strengthened its position with the award of a major subsea intervention project, while in Australia the completion of several major intervention projects using STATS’ patented BISEP tools built on the firm’s excellent track record.
In Nigeria, STATS completed a long-term isolation project on a FPSO on behalf of a major oil and gas operator.
Mr Howarth added: “Notwithstanding the continuing impacts of Covid-19, we’re expecting to see a further rise in revenue over the coming year and in support of our strategy to further internationalise, we’ll be considering plans to increase our local presence in both Saudi Arabia and Australia.”
STATS has pursued growth in overseas markets which has meant it has been able to reduce its reliance on the North Sea since winning backing from the BGF investment business in 2012. Last year it moved into a bigger facility in Texas and expanded its fabrication facilities in Canada.
It now has bases in Edmonton, Canada, Houston, US, Abu Dhabi, Oman and Qatar in the Middle East, Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia and Perth, Australia.
STATS Group announced in April that an agreement to sell 100% of the issued share capital of the company to SRJ Technologies plc would no longer go ahead but that both organisations would continue to collaborate at an operational level.
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