Sovcomflot has released its Consolidated Financial Statements for the period ending 31 December 2020.
The Group’s time-charter equivalent (TCE) revenue rose by 6.7% year-on-year to $1,350.6 mn. EBITDA was up 9.8% to $903.4 mn. Net profit increased by 18.4% to $266.9 mn. According to the company, the positive trend was driven by continued growth of the industrial business segments, as well as a strong performance of the conventional tanker fleet in the first half of the year.
SCF Group’s industrial business portfolio comprising of gas transportation (LNG and LPG vessels) and harsh environment offshore services (shuttle tankers and ice-breaking supply vessels) accounted for a half of SCF Group TCE revenue in 2020 and continues to provide a long-term fixed income revenue stream.
Industrial business segments contributed $681.1 mn to the 2020 TCE revenue and $179.8 mn to Q4 2020, delivering 6.6% year-on-year growth and a 4.1 increase compared to Q4 2019. Gas transportation business grew with the addition of two new LNG carriers employed in February and September 2020 under long-term contracts with energy majors Shell and Total.
The 2020 NEVT (Net Earnings from Vessels’ Trading) in the industrial business segment grew by 5.4% to $545.4 mn and NEVT margin remained at 80%. In Q4 2020 NEVT increased to $141.9 mn, up 5.4% year-on-year and 18.3% quarter-on-quarter.
As of 31 December 2020, the contract backlog rose to $24 bn compared to $10 bn as of 31 December 2019.
SCF Group’s conventional tanker business (crude and oil products transportation business segments) contributed 50% to 2020 TCE revenue.
The 2020 conventional tanker business increased by 9.9% to $626.4 mn on the back of strong freight market dynamics in the first half of 2020. In the third quarter of 2020 the market started to decline due to seasonality and COVID-19 pandemic-driven impact on demand for oil and oil products.
Q4 2020 performance of the conventional tanker business came under strong negative pressure which resulted in a revenue decline of 53% year-on-year and 22.2% quarter-on-quarter to $95.4 mn reflecting not only the continued negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on tanker freight market dynamics but also the strong performance in Q4 2019.
Entering Q4 2020, time-charter contract coverage of the Group’s conventional tanker fleet was increased to about 62 per cent of total segment revenue. The 2020 NEVT in conventional tanker business reached $414.4 mn, up 15.9% year-on-year with NEVT margin at 66%.
In October 2020, SCF Group conducted an initial public offering of 408,296,691 newly issued ordinary shares of a nominal value of RUB 1 each, at a price of RUB 105 per ordinary share and listed them on the Moscow Exchange. The total net proceeds of the IPO, after expenses and stabilisation-related buy-back, are RUB 38 bn (equivalent to $480 mn as of the date of issue). The free float of SCF Group shares amounts to 15.6%, and the Russian Federation retains an 82.8$ stake. The proceeds of the IPO are being utilised for investments in new assets, with a focus on industrial projects, decarbonisation and further deleveraging.
“With swings in global oil demand causing extreme volatility across energy markets, SCF Group has demonstrated resilience to such turbulence and has produced further increase in its key operational and financial metrics,” Igor Tonkovidov, President and CEO of SCF Group, commented.
According to Nikolay Kolesnikov, CFO of SCF Group, in 2020 SCF demonstrated strong financial performance achieving a company record EBITDA of $903.4 mn.