KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 14): Keyfield International Bhd (KL:KEYFIELD) slipped on Friday as investors reacted to weak results and analysts flagged a deeper decline in earnings this year.
The consensus now expects the oil-and-gas services firm to report a net profit of RM92 million this year, a steeper-than-previously-projected 36% fall from 2025. Keyfield would have sunk into net loss in the first six months of 2026 without extraordinary gains from disposal and foreign exchange.
“Earnings are likely to remain subdued” this year amid softer accommodation workboat demand and charter rates, although the downside should be cushioned by resilient market for anchor handling tug supply vessels, said TA Securities in a note.
However, the house is keeping its ‘buy’ call and target price of RM1.74, hopeful of higher upstream activity and offshore support vessel demand from rising focus on energy security in 2027.
Shares of Keyfield were down 0.7% or one sen to RM1.36 at the time of writing on Friday. The stock has lost more than 20% of its value from its peak in April when the Iran war was in full swing. The company is now worth about RM1.1 billion.
Keyfield is still rated ‘buy’ by four of five research houses tracked by Bloomberg with the sole ‘hold’ call from Phillip Capital. The average 12-month target price has also fallen to RM1.74.
“We are still in the middle of a low domestic capex spending environment” affecting most services and equipment companies in 2026, said Maybank Investment Bank.
However, there would be a multi-year capital expenditure upcycle beginning 2027 by national oil company PETRONAS given the higher overall oil prices and energy security concerns, the research house added.