Leigh Howarth

Revenues increased by £7.2m to £49.7m (up 17% from £42.5m) while earnings rose by £1.3m according to trading results for the year to 31 December 2021. The group’s pre-tax profits rose from £1m to £1.5m.

Headquartered in Kintore, near Aberdeen, STATS principal activity is the provision of pressurised pipeline isolation, hot tapping and plugging services to the energy industry.

Leigh Howarth, STATS Group CEO, said the company had delivered “an excellent trading result for the year” despite the ongoing impact of the Coronavirus pandemic.

Mr Howarth said: “Internationalisation remains a key strategic objective for the group with 87% of revenue in the year derived from contracts executed outside of the United Kingdom.

“The Middle East was one of the strongest performing regions with revenues increasing from £7.9m in 2020 to £11.6m, while in Malaysia income rose sharply to £1.4m. The group consolidated growth in its domestic UK market with revenues up from £5.1m to £6.7m, while the Canadian market grew from £6.7m to £7.8m.”

STATS recorded a number of important operational milestones, including its continued expansion in the North American market and development of new client relationships in the US. In the Saudi Arabian market, the company strengthened its position with the award of a major subsea intervention project, while in Australia the completion of several major intervention projects using STATS’ patented BISEP tools built on the firm’s excellent track record.

In Nigeria, STATS completed a long-term isolation project on a FPSO on behalf of a major oil and gas operator, whilst in the UKCS, the company completed the largest number of simultaneous pipeline isolation projects in its 24-year history, delivering six concurrent North Sea pipeline shutdown campaigns on behalf of several clients.

Mr Howarth added: “Notwithstanding the continuing impacts of Covid-19, we’re expecting to see a further rise in revenue over the coming year and in support of our strategy to further internationalise, we’ll be considering plans to increase our local presence in both Saudi Arabia and Australia.”