KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 14): Oil and gas services firm Keyfield International Bhd (KL:KEYFIELD) on Thursday reported record quarterly earnings and revenue, driven by higher vessels utilisation rates and increased vessel numbers.
The group, which was listed in April, posted a net profit of RM81.12 million for the third quarter ended Sept 30, 2024 (3QFY2024), up 77.18% from RM45.78 million a year earlier. Earnings per share increased to 10.11 sen from 9.14 sen.
Quarterly revenue rose 45.54% year-on-year to RM216.79 million from RM148.95 million, according to the group's bourse filing.
Keyfield clocked in 1,053 chartered days from 12 own vessels during the quarter, compared with 854 chartered days from 10 own vessels in the third quarter of 2023 (3Q2023), raising the utilisation rate to 99.2% from 92.8%.
The number of chartered days for third-party ships inched up to 658 days from 642 days in 3QFY2023.
“We are pleased to share our highest-ever quarterly results with our shareholders and the investing public at large," said Keyfield group chief executive officer Datuk Darren Kee Chit Huei in a statement. "Our strategic vessel acquisitions over the past few years continue to pay off; the 99.2% own vessel utilisation rate for 3Q2024 drove improvements in various financial metrics across the board."
Keyfield declared a third interim dividend of four sen per share, to be paid on Dec 19, raising the total payout so far in the year to eight sen per share, amounting to RM64.2 million. This represents a payout ratio of 35.4%, which exceeds the group’s 20% target payout ratio.
For the first nine months of the year, Keyfield's net profit more than doubled to RM181.45 million from RM83.35 million in the same period of FY2023, as cumulative revenue expanded 67.94% to RM522.15 million from RM310.92 million.
As at end September, the group had an order book of RM450 million. Of this, RM150 million is for the remainder of 2024 and the balance is for future financial years as new charter projects for 2025 will only be known by 1Q2025.
“We continue to bid for new chartering projects and expect our order book to rise in tandem with successful bids,” said Kee.
Moving forward, the group expects supply conditions for offshore vessels, particularly accommodation workboats which it specialises in, to remain tight in 2024 due to shortage of suitable vessels to support offshore activities.
Keyfield shares closed up one sen or 0.4% at RM2.26, giving the group a market capitalisation of RM1.82 billion. Compared to its initial public offering price of 90 sen, the stock has nearly tripled in price since its listing nearly seven months ago.