Sapura Energy slips into the red

KUALA LUMPUR: Offshore service provider, Sapura Energy Bhd, slipped into the red with a pre-tax loss of RM209.7 million for the third quarter ended Oct 31, 2017 compared with a pre-tax profit of RM199.25 million registered in the same quarter last year.

In a filing to Bursa Malaysia yesterday, it said revenue also slipped to RM1.27 billion versus RM2.22 billion recorded in the corresponding quarter in 2016.

The group’s financial performance was in line with the lower revenue accrued from its engineering, construction and drilling business segments and the lower contribution from its share of profit from joint ventures due to the loss on the disposal of its vessel by SapuraAcergy, amounting to RM46.1 million.

For the cumulative nine months period, it said pre-tax loss stood at RM71.57 million versus a pre- tax profit of RM510.52 million in the same period last year while revenue amounted to RM4.7 billion compared with RM5.83 billion, previously.

On outlook, the group said the industry condition continued to be challenging, adding that its current performance reflected the prolonged low level of capital spending within the industry.

“With the recent increase in tendering and bidding activities across key geographies, the group will continue to focus on replenishing the order book by strengthening its position in existing markets and expanding into new markets,” it added.

Furthermore, the group anticipated that the challenging environment would persist in the short and medium- term, and was considering various strategic and operational plans to mitigate the impact and improve the group’s competitiveness. — Bernama THE Malaysian rubber market closed lower yesterday despite the higher finish on regional rubber futures markets.

A dealer said traders in the local market were cautious as focus was centred on the Federal Open Market Committee’s decision, next week, on the immediate direction for interest rates.

“The market is expecting the Federal Reserve to raise interest SHORT-TERM interbank rates closed stable yesterday on Bank Negara Malaysia’s (BNM) intervention to absorb excess liquidity from the financial system.

The liquidity surplus in the conventional system decreased to RM30.80 billion from RM39.72 billion this morning while in the