Great Offshore net jumps 60% to Rs 56 cr

Mumbai-based offshore oilfield services company Great Offshore (GOL) has reported 60 per cent rise in net profit to Rs 56.17 crore for the quarter ended June 30, compared with Rs 35.11 crore in the previous comparable period.

Income from operations grew 50.17 per cent at Rs 174.01 crore (Rs 115.87 crore).

Of its total income, other income contributed Rs 29 crore (Rs 3.64 crore). Other income includes exchange gain of Rs 20.72 crore (unrealised gain Rs 20.44 crore) due to foreign exchange fluctuations on outstanding balances of foreign currency loans and payments (effected during the quarter), taken for acquiring vessels abroad.

The offshore services business of the Great Eastern Shipping Company has been demerged with effect from April 1, 2005, into GOL. Therefore, the results for June 30, 2006, are only for comparison purpose and not subject to limited review by the auditors of the company.

Operating expenses have gone up by 49 per cent to Rs 81.03 crore (Rs 54.32 crore). This is again mainly due to addition of new vessels and project expenses.

During the quarter under review, GOL took delivery a newly-built anchor handling tug supply vessel "� Malaviya Twenty Three.

The company has been awarded a five-year contract from the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) for its new jack-up rig, Samed Shikhar. The approximate value of the contract is Rs 1,000 crore. The contract is slated to commence on or before May 2009.