Subsea 7’s renewables and heavy lifting business made an operating loss of almost $8m in the third quarter of 2019, compared with income of more than $16m in the same period last year.
Revenue from renewables and heavy lifting dropped to $55.2m in the latest quarter, from $151.5m in 2018.
The company said the operating loss reflected lower activity levels compared with the prior year and a “competitive market environment” particularly for foundation installation contracts.
It added that the revenue reduction was mainly due to reduced activity on the Beatrice offshore wind farm, which is now operational.
For the nine months to the end of September, the operating loss from renewables and heavy lifting stood at $26.7m, down from a profit of almost $17m in the first three quarters of 2018.
Revenue for the year so far was $157.7m, down from $581.6m in 2018.
The company said installation of foundations and transition pieces was completed on phase two of the Formosa 1 project using the heavy lifting vessel Seaway Yudin, while preparation continues on the Yunlin offshore wind farm prior to cable installation planned in 2020.
At the end of September, Subsea 7 had an order backlog of $4.9bn, of which renewables and heavy lifting represented $300m.
The poor showing in renewables and heavy lifting was reflected in the company’s overall quarterly results, with net operating income down to $42m in Q3 from $76m in 2018.
Overall revenue for the latest quarter was $951m, dropping from almost $1.1bn in 2018.