Ezion

Ezion: Has entered into a jack-up charter contract valued at ~US$87.6m over a 3 year period, to provide support for a South Asian based national oil company. The Jack-up Rig which will be deployed in the Arabian Sea in South Asia is expected to begin work by early 2015 after its refurbishment and upgrading. While the charter is not expected to have a material impact on the Group’s earnings per share or net tangible assets per share for FY14, it does further enforce the growing appeal of Ezion’s liftboat/jack-up assets to oil and gas operators. To re-cap, Ezion’s recent 4Q13 results beat expectations, as net profit nearly doubled to US$40.5m (consensus: US$35.4m). Revenue spiked 60% y/y to US$83.8m, propelled by additional service rigs under its liftboat and jack-up rig segment, and higher OSV services for three projects in Australia. Going forward, management expects earnings momentum to continue, as platform and well-related work by oil majors in Asia Pacific, Middle East and West Africa accelerates this year. Overall, the street remains very bullish on Ezion with 12 Straight Buy call ratings and a consensus TP of $2.86.