Caverton Offshore Support on Tuesday reported a blistering 65% rise in pre-tax profits for the half-year ended June 2018. The company reported a pre-tax profit of N1.5 billion compared to N938 million reported same time in 2017.
The company also reported revenues of N14.2 billion in the first half of 2018 up from N10.1 billion same period in 2017. Income from the company’s main revenue generating earner, Helicopter/Contract rose from N9.3 billion to N13.8 billion in the period under review.
Caverton Helicopters had reported increasing earnings growth since 2017 as oil prices ticked upwards. The company relies on upstream oil and gas companies to make money. Higher oil prices suggest higher revenues for oil companies and more money to spend on expensive services such as what is paid by Caverton.
Last March, Caverton Offshore Support Plc, the parent company of Caverton Helicopters, unveiled eleven newly acquired helicopters, and by so doing, increased its total fleet to seventeen.
This move is indicative of the oil services company’s expansion drive following the contract for air transportation services provider for the Chevron/NNPC joint venture in Escravos. In May, the company commenced its Chevron logistics support contract by taking the first official flights to Excravos.
The company’s latest result is the best half-year result since 2015 when it reported pre-tax profits of N1.76 billion. In 2016 Caverton reported its first half-year loss since it became listed. The loss of about N2.4 billion for the period was inevitable after oil prices crashed and orders crashed from its major customers.
Caverton share price closed flat at N1.9 per share at the close of trading on Tuesday. The stock currently trades at a price-earnings ratio of 2x and has returned 90% in the last one year. Caverton’s debt rose to N15 billion for the period up from N12 billion in December 2017. The company has an unencumbered cash balance of about N1.4 billion on its balance sheet.
