OIL services company Vroon Offshore UK has seen a 1168% increase in its profits thanks to more charters for the company's vessels and higher prices paid by its customers.
Turnover went from £102.3 million to £115m according to accounts filed at Companies House for operations in 2012.
That helped pre-tax profit in the same period soar from £812,000 to £10.8m.
The company, part of the Netherlands-based shipping business Vroon, specialises in the supply and charter of offshore support vessels on the UK continental shelf and Irish Sea.
As well as more than 60 shore based staff in Aberdeen it has around 1200 seafaring employees and a rescue craft maintenance workshop in Montrose.
Writing in the accounts the directors said: "The increased turnover in 2012 is reflective of improved charter rates and higher vessel utilisation rates.
"The increase in operating profit is primarily driven by the improved turnover."
The accounts also acknowledge a crew member on the Vos Sailor vessel died in severe weather during December.
The company said it was still investigating the incident – where 11 other crew members were winched to safety.
The vessel was damaged so badly in the storm, which took place around 120 miles off the coast of Aberdeen in the Balmoral oil field, it was sold for scrap.
One other vessel was sold during the year resulting in a £491,000 gain on disposals but a reduction in the fleet to 47.
The directors said they "continue to monitor the composition of the fleet and intend to dispose of some of the group's older tonnage as opportunities arise to do so profitably".
A further 10 new build vessels are on order to be delivered across 2013 and 2014 at a total cost in excess of £38m.
Average staff numbers increased from 1235 to 1274 with salary costs edging up from £35.7m to £35.9m.
Directors' emoluments fell from £685,000 to £587,000 with the highest paid seeing a decline from £253,000 to £155,000.
The directors say the group is well positioned to benefit from the growth in the sector. They added: "The directors expect demand for [emergency response and rescue vessels] in 2013 will continue to be healthy, depending as it does on the offshore activity in the oil and gas sector. The group is well positioned to capitalise on its market share."
In April Vroon Offshore UK announced a long-term supply agreement with BP for platform-supply and emergency response and rescue services around the UK continental shelf.
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