James Fisher and Sons plc
Trading Update and Outlook
James Fisher and Sons plc (FSJ.L) (“James Fisher” or “the Group”), the UK's leading marine services company, issues its trading update for the period ended 30 September 2019 (“the period”).
Trading Update
The trends seen in the first half in our Offshore Oil and Tankships divisions continued into the period, with trading well ahead of the prior year comparative. This performance reflected improved market conditions in the oil & gas sector and the commencement of a new contract to support the Royal Navy's refueling requirements in Tankships.
Specialist Technical continued to perform broadly in line with a strong prior year comparative. The recently announced contract with China Shipbuilding & Offshore International reconfirmed our market leading position in submarine rescue services.
Marine Support's performance improved in the period, following a slow start to the year. The division experienced a robust recovery in ship-to-ship services, particularly in South America, however, a slower than anticipated return from the investments made in the first half resulted in a lower financial performance than planned in the period.
On 5 November 2019, the Group reported that it had been subjected to a cyber-security incident. Immediately on realising this incident had occurred, the Group invoked its established disaster recovery procedures and confirms that the recovery is now materially complete. This incident had no impact on JFD, within the Specialist Technical division, and based on our investigations, there are no indications of any transfer of personal or commercially sensitive data.
Outlook
The Group anticipates continued good performance in its Offshore Oil and Tankships divisions for the remainder of the year. Specialist Technical is expected to perform broadly in line with the previous year and Marine Support to recover from its performance in the period. Whilst modestly below the Board's expectations, profit before tax for the full year is expected to be ahead of last year (2018: £56.1m) and the Board believes that our marine service strategy, focused on specialised niche markets, will continue to provide future growth and value to its shareholders.