Singapore Corporate News - 1 Nov 2007

Keppel-led consortium wins Petrobras contract

A KEPPEL-LED group has clinched a US$1.2 billion Petrobras contract.

FSTP Pte Ltd, a consortium comprising Keppel Fels Brasil and Technip Brasil Engenharia Instalacoes e Apoio Maritimo (Technip), won the contract to build a semi-submersible floating production unit (FPU) for Petrobras Netherlands BV (PNBV).

FSTP is a 75:25 consortium company between Keppel Offshore & Marine (Keppel O&M), the parent company of Keppel Fels Brasil, and Technip. The rig, to be named P-56, is expected to be delivered in the last quarter of 2010.

P-56 will be a repeat of the P-51 FPU which is currently being built at Keppel Fels Brasil's BrasFels yard. With the latest contract, the total orders secured to date in 2007 by Keppel O&M is $6.25 billion.

Keppel Fels Brasil will carry out the detailed engineering of the lower hull and accommodation, as well as the construction and integration of the entire FPU. Technip will be responsible for the overall engineering and detailed engineering of the topside and offshore mating.

With displacement of 50,000 tonnes, the FPU will be 110 m long and wide, and 125 m tall. It is expected to operate for 25 years.

Keppel O&M has participated in more than 10 projects directly and indirectly for Petrobras and is currently carrying out several projects for the Campos region. The latest contract is not expected to have a material impact on the earnings of Keppel Corp, the parent group of Keppel Fels Brasil and Keppel O&M, for the financial year ending December 2007.

Cosco Q3 net up 37% to $97.7m

HELPED by strong growth in its various segments, mainboard-listed Cosco Corporation (Singapore) yesterday reported a 37 per cent year-on-year growth in third-quarter net profit to $97.7 million. And with some offshore and marine companies facing potentially huge forex losses, Cosco also made it known that it does not face such problems.

Turnover for the three months ended Sept 30 surged 72 per cent to $547 million, from $317.8 million in the previous corresponding quarter.

Q3 earnings per share came to 4.37 cents, up 35 per cent from 3.23 cents.

Cosco said that its results were due to strong growth in the ship-repair, ship-building and marine engineering segments as well as a robust dry bulk shipping performance.

There was no exceptional gain, unlike Q3 2006 when it registered an exceptional gain of $19.2 million. But there was an $8.2 million or 62 per cent jump to $21.4 million in 'miscellaneous gains', which Cosco said was mainly from the disposal of scrap metal.

Cosco's income statement took into consideration a forex gain of $1.5 million, against a $494,000 loss for the previous Q3.

Forex gain for the nine months was $6 million, against a $2.8 million loss for the previous corresponding period.

For the first nine months, Cosco registered a 66 per cent rise in turnover to $1.4 billion and a 37 per cent climb in net profit to $220.1 million - with both of these figures surpassing the $1.2 billion turnover and $205.4 million net profit numbers for the whole of FY2006.

Straits Asia acquires coal mine for US$350m

STRAITS Asia Resources (SAR) has agreed to acquire 100 per cent of the huge Jembayan coal mine in Indonesia's East Kalimantan province for US$350 million.

Jembayan is expected to produce about 4 million tonnes of coal this year. The concession covers almost 13,000 hectares but only 48 per cent of this area has been explored, implying significant upside potential, SAR said yesterday.

An independent review of the deposits has identified non-classified reserves of 41 million tonnes and resources of 115 million tonnes, it said.