Swiber order book swells close to US$1bn

The company achieves highest order book in its history as it secures repeat order from an oil major in South Asia.

Swiber Holdings Limited (“Swiber”), a world class integrated construction and support services provider to the offshore industry, announced on Thursday that its order book has rocketed close to US$1.0 billion, the highest in the Group’s corporate history, after securing its single largest contract win this year worth approximately US$155.0 million for an EPIC pipeline project in South Asia.

This repeat order win from a major oil company in South Asia reflects Swiber’s strong position in meeting stringent customer requirements among oil majors and the robust capex investment in the oil and gas industry on the back of resilient oil prices. The latest EPIC pipeline project is scheduled to commence in 4QFY2012 and targeted to complete in 2QFY2013.

Commented Mr. Francis Wong, Group Chief Executive Officer and President of Swiber, “We are delighted to have hit a new high watermark in our order book since listing. Swiber has proven its mettle, securing and delivering larger and larger projects over the last few years. This latest contract win, a repeat from a major oil company, is a testament to Swiber’s consistent excellent service, efficiency, commitment to safety and timely deliveries, and is reflective of our customer’s confidence in our ability to deliver to their challenging requirements, according to a Swiber report.

“Looking ahead, industry-wise, we expect that structural growth in demand for energy in Asia and Middle East will catalytically lead to increased capex expenditure in the next two years, providing a boost to offshore construction activities. We are also encouraged by two recent high profile consolidations in Malaysia and the US in the offshore construction industry. These consolidations set the valuation of international offshore construction companies like Swiber and provide a good benchmark for the rest of the industry players.

“We intend to continue to actively bid for various oil & gas projects. With a fleet of 12 construction vessels and 39 support vessels, Swiber is more than ready to seize these opportunities.”

Buoyed by the string of contract wins, the company is far from resting on its laurels. Said Mr. Wong, “Swiber is committed to operational excellence. With the integration of our Continuous Swiber Improvement (CSI) initiative, adapted from the Lean philosophy, we are the first in the industry to go into full-scale implementation of Kaizen and Lean management which focuses on continuous improvement of processes in project execution, engineering, supporting business processes and management to achieve more results with less cost.”

As a testament to Swiber’s commitment to operational excellence and building up its brand strength, Swiber is consistently among “Singapore’s Top 100 Brands” in the Brand Finance’s Annual Report of “Singapore’s Intangible Assets and Brands” for three consecutive years, with a brand value of US$79.0 million and a brand rating of AA-.
Swiber has secured to date, new contract wins amounting to US$587.0 million in 2011 from oil and gas majors for work in Asia and the Middle East.