Gulf Marine Services PLC ("GMS" or the "Company"), a leading provider of advanced self‐propelled, self‐elevating support vessels serving the offshore oil, gas and renewables industries, is pleased to announce its full year financial results for the year to 31 December 2022.

2022 Financial Highlights

  • Revenue increased by 15.7% to US$ 133.2 million (2021: US$ 115.1 million) driven by increased utilisation mainly on E-class vessels and higher average day rates across all vessel classes.
  • Adjusted EBITDA increased to US$ 71.5 million (2021: US$ 64.1 million) driven by an increase in revenue. Adjusted EBITDA margin decreased to 54% (2021: 56%), which is due to the recognition of a charge for the bankruptcy of a client as well as other one-off costs and an increase in professional fees.
  • Cost of sales excluding depreciation, amortisation and the reversal of impairment/impairment charge was US$ 51.2 million (2021: US$ 41.2 million) driven by increase in utilisation, the recognition of a charge for the bankruptcy of a client, as well as other one-off costs.
  • General and administrative expenses increased to US$ 13.2 million (2021: US$ 12.3 million), driven by an increase in professional fees; however general and administrative costs as a percentage of revenue had decreased to 10% (2021: 11%).
  • US$ 7.8 million net reversal of impairment compared to US$ 15.0 million in 2021.
  • For a second year in a row, the Group generated profit:  US$ 25.4 million in 2022 (2021: US$ 31.2 million). Adjusted net profit of US$ 17.6 million (2021: US$ 18.0 million).
  • Finance expenses have increased to US$ 20.1 million (2021: US$ 14.5 million) during the year. This is driven by an increase in LIBOR rates from 0.2% in 2021 to 4.7% during the year, as well as an increase in the fair value of the embedded derivatives of US$ 2.5 million (2021: US$ 0.3 million). 
  • Net bank debt reduced to US$ 315.8 million (2021: US$ 371.3 million). Net leverage ratio reduced to 4.4 times (2021: 5.8 times).

2022 Operational Highlights

  • Average fleet utilization increased by 4 percentage points to 88% (2021: 84%) with a notable improvement in E-Class vessels at 82% (2021: 72%). Average utilization for K-Class vessels improved marginally to 87% (2021: 86%), whilst there was a small decrease in average utilization for S-Class vessels to 97% (2021: 98%).
  • Average day rates increased notably to US$ 27.5k (2021: US$ 25.7k) with improvements across all vessel classes, particularly for E-class and K-class vessels.
  • Six new contracts in the year, worth US$ 271.0 million (2021: nine contracts worth US$ 66.0 million), with new charters and extensions secured in the year totaled 19.4 years (2021: 9.6 years). Operational downtime increased to 2.2% (2021: 1.5%).

2023 Highlights and Outlook

  • 2023 utilization currently stands at 95% (84% being secured) against actual utilization of 88% in 2022.
  • Anticipate continued improvement on day rates as our vessel demand outstrips supply on the back of a strong pipeline of opportunities.
  • Average secured day rates of over 6% higher than 2022 actual levels.
  • Reversal of impairment recognized with a value of US$ 7.8 million indicative of continuing to improve long-term market conditions.
  • The Group expects its financial performance to continue to improve and reiterates its EBITDA guidance of between US$ 75-US$ 83 million for 2023.
  • Group anticipates net leverage ratio to be below 4.0 times before the end of 2023.

Mansour Al Alami, Executive Chairman said:

"We are proud of the results achieved in 2022 as they set the path for further growth in 2023 and beyond. Our safety record remains very satisfactory. We also delivered on our plans to control emissions.   We have had the highest repayment of our debt from operations on record, doubling what we had committed to through the syndicate agreement. The backlog on hand confirms the market demand for our services remains strong. The increase in chartering rates helps us get back on a favorable trajectory, despite increase in interest rates. Despite our best efforts and for reasons beyond our control, our leverage remained above 4x fueling our eager to continue to deleverage. We look forward to continuing this journey making sure that our topline growth and control spending measures continue to service the debt and meeting the covenants. On behalf of the Board, I would like to thank all our staff for a year of hard work and for their continued commitment to GMS. I would also like to thank our stakeholders, including customers, suppliers, and lenders for their support during the past year and I look forward to continuing working with them in the future".