"Australia is facing a bad economic situation because much exploration and production activity has been halted. We are in a slightly better position because over the past one and a half years, we have shifted out from this into the maintenance space," said AusGroup CEO Gerard Hutchinson. Photo by Sim KihAUSGROUP LIMITED has returned to the black after slipping into a loss last year.
The provider of maintenance, construction, access services, fabrication and marine & port services to the energy, industrial and mining sectors in Australia and Southeast Asia posted FY2015 (year end June) net profit attributable to shareholders of A$6.2 million.
Revenue was up 41.3% year-on-year at A$427.4 million, thanks to strong contribution from the scaffolding services by its subsidiary MAS, as well as maintenance services.
The three tanks at Port Melville's fuel facility were completed in July 2015. Photo: CompanyAusGroup's order book as at 30 June 2015 was A$466.6 million.
The next page contains a summary of questions raised by the investment community and replies provided by the CEO, and by non-executive non-independent director Eng Chiaw Koon.
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Q: What timeline are you looking at for approval for the fuel facility?
Concerns were raised by the Australian Department of the Environment over the impact the port would have on kiwi birds and turtles. For example, there was concern that the artificial light emanating from the port would disrupt the nesting habits of turtles, which rely heavily on moonlight.
We engaged an environmental expert from the Charles Darwin University to study this. Two weeks ago, we submitted the luminescence report to the Department of the Environment. The port does not interact with nesting sites, as the nearest one is 7km away. We already have a facility at the Gorgon project on Barrow Island that is grade A internationally in terms of its impact on the environment. The facility has full-time monitoring of vessels. So, we expect an approval for the fuel facility at Melville Port any day now, conditional on our implementation of a monitoring program to make sure any impact on the environment is continually monitored. We have just brought in an environmental specialist into the business in anticipation of that.
Q: What is your outlook for the resources industry in Australia?
We made a decision to get out of the resources industry in 2013. We expect very low capital expenditure in this area. We are doing work in the industrial post processing sector related to resources, but not in mining. |
