IN LINE RESULTS - GROUP TRANSFORMATION IN PROGRESS
SBM Offshore reports 2012 half-year results in-line with expectations. The Company secured important orders with the Ichthys turret and the Shell FPSO Fram letter of interim award and took significant steps to transform its strategy, structure and culture. Bruno Chabas, CEO of SBM Offshore, said:

"In my first half-year as CEO, we have made significant progress in transforming the Group. Several outstanding Board Members and Executive Directors have joined and we have restructured the management organisation making it both profit and cashflow accountable. A divestment programme for non-core assets of up to US$ 400 million is in progress.

"I have met with many key stakeholders, particularly shareholders, customers and banks, in a constructive dialogue. Although the Group is still working on important legacy issues, I am encouraged to report whole-hearted support for our strategy to focus exclusively on FPSOs and associated products or services".

US$ million
H1 2012 H1 2011* Change
Turnover 1,669.5 1,460.6 14%
EBITDA 335.1 372.8 (10%)
EBIT 223.5 (201.0) N/A
Net Profit / (Loss) 157.8 (250.8) N/A
EBIT margin 13.4% (13.8%) N/A
Investments in fixed assets and finance leases 660.2 568.4 16%
Operating cashflow 690.3 175.7 3.9x

30 June 2012 31 Dec 2011
Order Portfolio 16,109.1 16,910.1 (5%)
Net Debt 1,964.4 1,958.5 0%

* Restated for comparison purposes ( Income Tax and cashflow statement)


Summary
Reported Turnover is well ahead of the first half of 2011, driven by strong performance of the turnkey systems segment, on the back of last year's strong order intake. The benefit to Group EBITDA is masked for this half year by the introduction at year-end 2011 of a more conservative margin recognition methodology, resulting in deferral of US$ 69 million to later periods. No significant one-off charges were recorded in the first half of 2012, and the Group is pleased to report an EBIT margin of 13.4% for the period.

While still pursuing completion of projects such as Yme, key events in this reporting period include the Ichthys turret contract award bringing the backlog to US$ 16.1 billion and discussions with Shell resulting in a framework agreement to be applied for the first time to the Fram contract for a North Sea FPSO. Excellent progress has been made in financing our projects, especially the refinancing of the Normand Installer and the first tranche of US$ 1.05 billion of a US$ 1.2 billion project loan for the Cidade de Ilhabela project, completed since period end.