Aberdeen-based global shipping and energy service firm Craig Group is today unveiling a £1.5million rise in profits.
The privately owned, family-run business made pre-tax profits of £17.3million in the year to the end of April, compared with £15.8million the year before.
Turnover at the company, which this year celebrates its 80th birthday, jumped £23.5million to £146.8million.
Its core activities are the provision of offshore support, remote operated vehicle survey, emergency response and rescue vessels (ERRVs) and oilfield procurement.
The group employs 1,062 people, of which 952 are mariners crewing its fleet of 37 vessels.
Capital expenditure in the latest year totalled £37.4million, with the majority – around £27.8million – spent on the continued modernisation of the group’s fleet of ERRVs.
The fleet is operated by group division North Star Shipping, which saw turnover rise by more than 15% to £96.2million.
During the financial year, two new ERRVs were completed and a further two new vessels are planned for 2014.
Turnover at the group’s oilfield procurement division – Craig International Supplies (CIS) – rose by nearly 30% to £48.3million, from £37.6million previously.
Chairman and managing director Douglas Craig said: “Our considerable capital expenditure in new tonnage to ensure the safest and most modern fleet, and investment in new global bases for CIS have consolidated our market-leading positions in these areas.
“We are also generating the cash flows required to sustain growth and new employment.”
The group has invested £230million in new vessels since 2003, a move Mr Craig believes has helped the company land new contracts and retain existing ones in the North Sea.
“The opening of new bases for CIS in Poland and Ghana, while bolstering our existing operations in Cape Town and Houston, has significantly extended our global reach, helping us secure new business, increase our buying power and offer greater efficiencies to customers,” he said.
Craig Group paid £3million in dividends to shareholders, the first such payouts in three years.
The highest paid director’s salary package, thought to be Mr Craig’s, was worth £500,000.