Shipbuilders brace for choppier seas after dismal first quarter results

Q1 was a harbinger of tougher times ahead.

Shipbuilders in the oil and gas industry are in for choppier seas ahead after a dire set of first quarter results, a report by OCBC Investment Research revealed.

OCBC analyst Low Pei Han and Andy Wong noted that poor Q1 results are just a "harbinger of more challenging times ahead", as utilisation rates sink and new orders dissipate.

"Market sentiment has to improve first, before asset owners are confident to order newbuilds. This applies for the rigbuilders as well. With offshore drillers like Transocean seeing low utilisation rates and scrapping their fleet, newbuild rig orders have trickled down to zero. Instead, requests for delays in delivery have surfaced and some have been agreed upon with customers," they noted.

They noted that while oil and gas stocks rallied when oil prices rose in early April, most of the gains have fizzled out since then.

"Despite oil price being on an uptrend since Feb, the FTSE Oil and Gas index has not been able to mount a recovery, likely because the market is still not convinced of a sustained uptrend in oil prices. ‘Low for longer’ is still a view widely held by many industry players, though many think that oil price will eventually recover,” they said.

If you've been wondering whether SBR could work for your company — yes, probably.

A lot of the companies we partner with started as readers. They'd been following our coverage for a while, saw their own customers and competitors in it, and eventually asked the obvious question: could we do something with you? The answer is usually yes. The shape of it depends on what you're trying to do.

The options are broader than most people assume — thought leadership articles, sponsored content, industry summits across Southeast Asia, regional awards programmes, podcasts, and media placements in print and digital. Some partners use one channel; most use a mix. We figure out the right combination by starting with your brief, not with our rate card.

So if the question has been on your mind, here's the easy way to ask it.

We'll tell you honestly whether we can help, and how. It's a better use of everyone's time.

Book a meeting

| Or download the media kit (PDF)

240,000 senior readers quarterly in print Top 1,700 Singapore companies reached

7 markets across Southeast Asia