Marine expansion helps James Fisher

British marine engineer and shipping group James Fisher today said its expansion in marine services had pushed half-year profits ahead by 10% to £6.6m (€9.8m).

Fisher, based in Barrow-in-Furness, said marine services now accounted for 46% of its interim operating profits, against 39% last time, making it the firm’s biggest division.

Marine services carries out submarine rescue and other tasks for the Ministry of Defence, as well as merchant ship conversions, ship management and project management and sale and rental of offshore and sub-sea equipment and services.

The division increased operating profits by 23% to £4.7m (€7m) in the six months to June 30, which the company described as “encouraging”.

It said recent acquisitions had been integrated efficiently and performed well and a stronger management team would help the group to bid for new contracts.

Defence operations within marine services did well, with good first-half performances from James Fisher Rumic – which runs the Royal Navy’s Submarine Rescue Service – and AWSR Shipping, which has a 20-year deal to provide six roll-on roll-off ferries to the British Ministry of Defence.

Fisher, which also owns and runs tankers and cable-laying vessels, has been reducing its reliance on shipping activities in the face of difficult markets.

The tank shipping division, although still important to the group, was operating in a “relatively mature” market, with operating profits broadly flat at £3.8m (€5.7m).

The group said near term prospects in cable laying remained bleak, with the limited work available taken by the cable companies for their own vessels.

Chairman Tim Harris said cable laying now represented a greatly reduced part of James Fisher, which had placed the firm in a better position to grow profits and investor returns.

He said marine services remained central to the strategy of the group, which intends to continue its expansion organically and through acquisitions.

“These acquisitions will relate closely to our existing businesses and core marine service skills,” Mr Harris said.