Swiber

Swiber: Annouced strong 1Q13 results, reporting a 59.3% y/y rise in revenue to US$309.7m and a significant rise in net profit from US$8.6m in 1Q12 to US$20.1m in 1Q13. Both revenue and pre-tax profit formed 27% of full-year estimates, in line with expectations, but the lower-than-expected tax rate meant that net profit accounted for 38% of our full-year forecast. Gross profit margin was lower at 16.1% in 1Q13 vs 19.8% in 1Q12. Swiber’s order book stands at about US$1.1b as at May. Net gearing increased slightly from 0.95x in 4Q12 to 1.0x in 1Q13. Pending an analysts’ briefing later in the afternoon, OCBC put hold rating and fair value estimate of $0.70 under review.