ASCO aims to double in size over the next four years after increasing profits by 21% in 2012, helped by booming investment in the North Sea.
The Aberdeen-based oil and gas logistics group achieved earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation of £36.5 million compared with £30.1m in the preceding year.
The company said the year featured a strong performance by its European arm on the back of greater activity on the United Kingdom Continental Shelf. Oil and gas firms are trying to maximise production in the area to cash in on strong demand for energy in places like China.
ASCO, which offers services ranging from operating rig supply boats to managing warehouses, retained major contracts with firms like Nexen and Enquest. Both are working on bringing new North Sea fields into production.
The company increased its presence in the North Sea market last year through the acquisition of the NSL Training Services business in Aberdeen.
Chief executive Derek Smith said the company would consider buying more businesses to expand the range of services it provides in the North Sea. He added: "The North Sea will always be a core market."
ASCO employs 850 people in north east Scotland out of a global total of 2100.
Following reports skills shortages may hinder oil and gas firms efforts to expand in the North Sea, Mr Smith said ASCO has recruited around 15 former soldiers to help it keep pace with the growth in activity in the area.
Mr Smith said ASCO also made good progress with its efforts to grow in overseas markets last year, the first under the ownership of Doughty Hanson.
The private equity business bought ASCO for around £250m in December 2011, with a view to helping it expand in international oil and gas markets.
ASCO bought the Oniqua software business in Australia last year, which increased its exposure to the key Australasian market. The deal allowed ASCO to widen its service range to include helping firms manage their inventories.
The company also bought three firms active in the oil sands market in Canada.
Executive chairman Billy Allan said: "The development of shale oil and gas will continue to have an impact on the industry and we are monitoring these developments closely with a firm eye on exploiting these opportunities both at home and abroad."
Mr Allan said directors' ultimate aim is to double the size of the business over the next four years.
ASCO increased turnover by 11.2% to £678.3m in 2012, from £610.2m in 2011. It made £435,000 pre-tax profit net of £18.4m interest charges.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article