Expro
International pre-close trading update
Posted: 29 September 2003
Pre-Close Trading Update: Half Year ended 30th September 2003-09-29
The Board of Expro International Group PLC ("Expro")
announced that trading during the half year has been in-line with
trends described in the financial statements for the year ended
30th March 2003.
Consequently the results for the six months to 30th September,
2003 are expected to be in-line with consensus market expectations.
Activity levels in Europe, particularly in the UK North Sea and
Norway, have remained buoyant, and in the Africa / FSU / ME region
there has been a continued strong performance. In the Asia Pacific
region we have successfully launched well perforation operations
in China, incorporating the technology and expertise we have developed
in the US Gulf of Mexico. We will continue to seek opportunities
to internationalise this capability, securing new sources of revenue
for the Group.
For the Americas region, modest expectations were set at the beginning
of the current financial year and the business has delivered on
this, despite continued low levels of activity. Although the onshore
rig count rose progressively during the period and has now stabilised
at around 900 rigs, this market is not significant for Expro. The
large majority of our revenue in this region is driven by the offshore
rig count, which has remained static throughout the period at an
average of 105 rigs (prior year period average 109 rigs). We are
now taking a more cautious view of the offshore rig count for the
remainder of the year; even though some observers believe there
will be a material improvement.
The growth opportunities we have identified continue to show promise,
with our new Excape, Cased Hole Services, technology gaining wider
market acceptance and delivering income in excess of double the
prior year period levels. We believe revenue from this perforating
technology will continue to grow rapidly and that Excape has global
applications. In the important deepwater market, we have successfully
tested our new large bore electro-hydraulic ultra-deepwater subsea
equipment and we expect to see the benefit in our Subsurface Income
in West Africa and the Gulf of Mexico in the next financial year,
as current tenders translate into firm contract awards. Tronic launched
its new fibre-optic connector at the Offshore Europe trade show
earlier this month, where it was very positively received. The QuantX
joint venture with Baker Hughes has established itself in the increasingly
important well instrumentation arena and both partners anticipate
a resumption of growth next financial year.
Graeme Coutts, CEO with effect from 1st October, 2003, said: "Market
conditions are generally healthy for the industry and we expect
to see a progressive recovery in our performance as new technology
and geographic re-positioning make their impact. In the short term,
weak offshore Gulf of Mexico rig activity is proving disappointing;
however I am happy with our overall progress."
Posted by Richard Price,
Editor Pipeline Magazine
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