By Joe Hoppe

James Fisher & Sons said it swung to a pretax loss on one-off costs, though underlying profit and revenue rose and early second-half performance was in line with its expectations.

The London-listed marine-services provider said Thursday that it swung to a pretax loss of 4.4 million pounds ($5.4 million) compared with a restated profit of GBP5.2 million for the first half of 2022. The company said this was primarily due to refinancing legal and advisory costs and higher interest rates offsetting a positive operating performance.

Underlying operating profit--a metric that strips out exceptional and other one-off items--was GBP14.0 million, up from GBP11.4 million the year before, with all three divisions delivering growth.

Revenue rose to GBP252.0 million from GBP215.0 million in the year-prior period, driven by positive momentum in its energy division.

Further strategic progress is expected in the second half and performance in July and August were in line with expectations, the company said, retaining its full-year expectations.

"Although the geopolitical and economic climate remains uncertain, the board is confident that it is taking the right steps to create a platform for sustained recovery," Chief Executive Jean Vernet said.

Write to Joe Hoppe at joseph.hoppe@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

September 21, 2023 03:29 ET (07:29 GMT)

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