Subsea 7’s renewables unit broke even in the third quarter, turning around an $8m loss in the year-ago period.
The marine contractor said despite “client delays” on certain offshore wind projects revenue to end September was $269m, up from $55m in 2019, thanks to higher activity.
Progress on the Yunlin project in Taiwan was delayed due to restricted access, resulting in Seaway Yudin, Seaway Aimery and Seaway Moxie being on client-paid standby for part of the quarter. At the end of the quarter, Seaway Yudin was re-deployed to the Formosa 2 project.
However, the renewables unit completed work on Triton Knoll in the North Sea, using Seaway Strashnov throughout the quarter.
Meanwhile, fabrication activities commenced on the Seagreen project during the quarter.
Subsea 7 said that in its renewables business the outlook for near-term activity levels is strong, with progress on the $1.4bn Seagreen project “accelerating into 2021, and high levels of tendering activity for new contracts”.
The offshore wind turbine installation market continues to be competitive but the market dynamics for inner-array cable lay remain stronger, the company stated.
Group-wide earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) were $114m in the third quarter of 2020, compared with $181m in the same period in 2019.
Revenue for the period was $947m compared with $951m in the third quarter of 2019.
Subsea 7 CEO John Evans said: “In the third quarter of 2020 Subsea 7 reported adjusted EBITDA of $114m, down 37% year-on-year, reflecting reduced activity within the SURF and Conventional business unit, client delays affecting certain renewables projects in Asia and the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“The group generated positive net cash flow and we ended the quarter with a net cash position of $53 million.
“This balance sheet strength provides a solid foundation from which to preserve the competitiveness of our oil and gas businesses through the current downturn, while advancing our strategy of proactive participation in the energy transition.”