GTT Profits Down But Orders Stay High

French LNG engineer saw a 25% drop in income in the first half of 2019 despite its order intake remaining solid, the company said on July 25.

The specialist in developing gas containment systems posted a net profit of €56.6mn ($63mn) in January through June, down from €75.7mn a year earlier. Revenues fell 3.6% yr/yr in the six-month period to €122.6mn, but were up 8.2% quarter on quarter in April through June.

"The first half of 2019 was characterised by intense business activity and LNG carrier orders at record levels,” CEO Philippe Berterottiere said.

The company expects to see more of a benefit from this rise in activity during the rest of the year.

“As a result, considering the backlog in our order book along with busy shipbuilding schedules, we are upgrading our projections for revenues and Ebitda for the full 2019 financial year,” Berterottiere said.

Excluding LNG as fuel orders, GTT had orders at the end of June for equipment at 95 LNG carriers, seven floating storage and regasification units (FSRUs), two floating LNG facilities and three onshore storage tanks. It secured an additional two orders at LNG carriers in July from South Korea’s Hyundai.