OREANDA-NEWS. OAO Sovcomflot Board of Directors met to review SCF Group results for 2013. The board approved the company’s annual report and financial accounts for the last fiscal year.

SCF Board of Directors noted that despite the continuing unfavourable conditions on the energy shipping market in 2013, the company was able to invest fully in its fleet-expansion programme. SCF fleet gained 700,000 deadweight tonnes in new vessels and maintained its good industry rankings for average vessel age. Sovcomflot systematically expanded the share of Russian projects in its business portfolio – focusing on offshore oil & gas project support. SCF is one of the largest clients for Russia’s civil shipbuilding industry, provides employment to over 8,500 Russian sailors, is active in its support of Russian maritime education and makes a valuable contribution to the development of the country’s coastal regions.

“The company’s main goal is to diversify and expand its business project portfolio – focusing on long-term contracts to provide energy shipping and other services to oil & gas companies engaged in the offshore development and production of hydrocarbon resources in Russia and overseas. Its clear development strategy means that SCF Group can maintain its stable financial position, fully implement its current initiatives and programmes – especially those connected with safety at sea and fleet expansion, and successfully withstand the ongoing negative trends and challenges that have been affecting the global tanker industry for the past five years.” – Ilya Klebanov, Chairman of Sovcomflot Board of Directors

“Sovcomflot succeeded in preserving its operating margin despite the financial crisis within the global tanker industry, which continued due to the discrepancy between supply and demand. Gross revenue totalled USD 1,262.8m, net profit (time-charter equivalent) was USD 872.6m (growth of 1.5%), EBITDA was USD 382.1m, and adjusted net profit (excluding non-cash impairment provisions and results on disposal of assets) came to USD 11.6m. The Sovcomflot Group fleet was expanded with the introduction of several new vessels with a combined deadweight of around 700,000 tonnes. The company broke into new energy transportation segments: VLCC tanker and ice class gas carrier shipping. In the first quarter of 2014, the freight market showed positive trends, especially in the crude oil shipping segment. The existing approach to chartering out vessels in the company fleet is ideally suited to this type of market correct and this is clearly visible from the preliminary results of the first quarter. Initial data for the first quarter of 2014 shows that company revenue could rise by 40% in comparison with Q1 2013.” – Sergey Frank, President and CEO of Sovcomflot.