Aberdeen-based oil shuttle tanker owner and operator Knot Offshore Partners (KOP) posted record-busting results yesterday after strong take-up of its vessels during 2015.
The firm, which has its head office at 2 Queen’s Cross, has a modern fleet of 10 tankers, each equipped with the latest technology, for offloading oil from offshore installations in the UK North Sea and Brazil.
Its vessels operate under long-term charters with major oil and gas companies such as ExxonMobil, Statoil, Transpetro and Eni.
Listed on the New York stock exchange, KOP’s main sponsor is Norwegian shuttle tanker giant Knutsen NYK Offshore Tankers – owned by Norway’s TS Shipping Invest and Japan’s Nippon Yusen Kaisha.
John Costain – a Manchester University civil engineering graduate and chartered accountant – has served as KOP’s chief executive since June last year, having been on the board since February 2013.
KOP reported new records for revenue and net profits for the fourth quarter of 2015, £29.5million and £12.3million respectively, saying its vessels were 99.9% booked during the period.
Highlights of the quarter included the Windsor Knutsen starting a two-year charter with BG Group and the acquisition of a business which previously owned the Ingrid Knutsen.
KOP said Statoil exercised an option to extend the charter of the Bodil Knutsen by an extra year until May 2017.
Vessel operating costs for the fourth quarter were £5.3million, compared with £4.1million in the previous three months, with KOP saying the increase was mainly due to the Ingrid Knutsen’s introduction to the fleet.
KOP said net income was up from £6.1million a year earlier, helping the full-year figure rise by nearly 50% to £28.2million.
In its outlook for this year, KOP said earnings for the first quarter of 2016 would be affected by the planned dry-docking of the Bodil Knutsen – but its fleet was 100% booked.
