Sovcomflot: "Only Major Tanker Company that was Profitable in 2011"

In a rather bold statement during a meeting between Sovcomflot’s (SCF) Board of Directors last week, the Board’s Chairman, Ilya Klebanov noted:

“Sovcomflot is the only major tanker company in the world which finished 2011 in profit, despite the crisis year which was the worst for more than a decade. The level of freight rates in the tanker market reached a historic minimum.”

During this time period, SCF’s fleet also grew by 1 million tons deadweight with the addition of 6, ice-class Aframax tankers to service the Sakhalin-1 and Sakhalin-2 offshore oil and gas projects.

SCF’s strategy going forward, as stated by Mr. Klebanov, is closely aligned with the expansion of their LNG carrier and offshore hydrocarbon production services in Russian and elsewhere around the world.

With their profit gained in 2011, SCF’s Chairman remarked that SCF plans “to proceed with the implementation of an investment programme aimed at increasing the fleet’s effectiveness, retaining high navigational safety standards, reducing our environmental impact, and developing the potential of our people.”

Sergey Frank, Sovcomflot’s President and CEO, states:

“Last year was the third year of tanker market stagnation. ClarkSea Tanker Index of profitability fell by 20 per cent as compared to 2010. For all the tanker owners, without any exception, it was not an easy period. However, even in such a situation Sovcomflot has demonstrated the stability of its business model and continued to develop in accordance with the strategy approved by the Board of Directors.

The Group’s fleet grew by more than one million tonnes deadweight and remained one of the youngest in the world. We have concluded a number of new contracts with first-class contactors, forming part of long-term projects, we have also entered the offshore geological exploration market segment. Sovcomflot’s stable position is confirmed by the growth of contracted revenues for future periods, which amounted to USD 5.5 billion dollars by the end of 2011.”

2011 Highlights

The level of freight rates has reached a historic minimum over the last ten years. The Stock Market Index of public tanker companies fell by 47 percent while the ClarkSea Tanker Index of profitability in 2011 decreased by 20 percent as compared to 2010.

2011 gross revenue grew by 9.6 per cent to USD 1,438.9 million (2010: USD 1,312.9 million)
Net profit amounted to USD 53.7 million (2010: USD 164.3 million);
Contracted future revenues amounted to USD 5.5 billion (2010: USD 4.9 billion);
As at 31 December the Group’s fleet comprised 155 owned and chartered vessels (2010: 147 vessels) representing 11.5 million tonnes dwt in total, average vessel age – 7 years;
SCF Group has strengthened its position in the segment of shuttle-tanker transportation for hydrocarbons; the acquisition of six ice-class Aframax tankers allowed the company to consolidate the transportation component of the Sakhalin-1 and Sakhalin-2 offshore oil and gas projects;
Substantial growth of revenues was achieved in market segment for servicing offshore oil and gas production – TCE revenues increased by 49.7 per cent amounting to USD 181.0 million (2010: USD 121.0 million);
Suezmax tanker Vladimir Tikhonov (160,000 dwt) became the largest ship in the history to transit the Northern Sea Route (NSR) from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean; she transported a full cargo of gas condensate
Long-term contracts were signed with Gazprom Global LNG (GGLNG), a subsidiary of Gazprom, for the chartering of two new generation LNG gas tankers of 170,000 cubic metres capacity each;
The Aframax tanker Adygea started the transportation of oil to serve offshore oil production at the Peregrino oil field in Brazil (project operator – Statoil) – strengthening SCF Group’s position in the offshore oil and gas projects segment;
SCF entered the offshore geological exploration market segment: a new high-tech scientific and research offshore exploration vessel Vyacheslav Tikhonov (X-bow 3D, built in 2011) managed by SCF Group and Sevmorneftegeofizika started seismic exploration of the Black Sea continental shelf ;
SCF opened a new office in the South-East Asia – SCF Unicom Singapore, part of the Group’s expansion in the markets of the Asia-Pacific Region.

The SCF Group of companies (SCF) specializes in crude oil, petroleum products and liquefied gas transportation. Their fleet, as of 1 of April 2012, comprises 158 vessels with a total deadweight of almost 12.0 million tonnes.