A global supply overhang has seen benchmark Brent crude oil prices drop to a 12-year low last month. Oil and gas projects have been postponed or cancelled as energy firms cut costs to survive the downturn, affecting firms such as SapuraKencana.
“We still anticipate pressures on our margins in the near term,” Chief Executive Shahril Shamsuddin said in a statement.
“The group will continue to manage the current industry pressures through aggressive implementation of our initiatives to reset costs to match the low oil price environment,” he said.
There are unlikely to be any job cuts for now, said an industry source who was not authorised to speak publicly on the matter and so declined to be identified.
Shahril said the company will rejig its cost base for a $30-a-barrel oil price environment. Brent crude is currently trading near $40, having recovered nearly 50 percent from multi-year lows hit earlier in the year.
The company plans to increase focus on opportunities in Southeast Asia, India, the Middle East and Mexico, he said.
SapuraKencana’s net loss totalled RM1.29 billion ($320.02 million) in the fourth quarter ended Jan. 31, compared with RM129.1 million in the year-ago quarter.
That is the company’s first net loss since at least the quarter ended April 2011, according to Reuters data.
Profit before taxation, impairments and other items totalled 8.2 million ringgit. Revenue fell 7 percent year-on-year to 2.23 billion ringgit.
– Reuters