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I attended the AGM cum EGM of Swiber Holdings Limited held on April 30, 2009 at 9 a.m. Due to the fact that there was quite a heavy torrential shower in the morning and also the presence of an accident near the AGM venue (which was the Company’s headquarters), several directors as well as shareholders arrived late. Due also to the fact that there was a lack of signs pointing to the location of the AGM and also a lack of hourly parking lots (the carpark at Swiber’s HQ was all season-parking), this also caused quite a bit of disgruntlement and there were some accusations that the AGM was not organized well. Management acknowledged the issues and said that they would learn from the experience and that all feedback would be noted and that FY 2009’s AGM would be a better experience.
The entire AGM and EGM lasted about 3 hours in total, with Management candidly answering questions from several shareholders who took to the microphone. I also managed to clarify some doubts I had with regards to certain issues which had been nagging me since the late deliveries of Swiber Concorde and Swiber Supporter, as well as some recent corporate activites. I shall now proceed to give a point by point review of the queries which were raised, issues discussed and explanations given.
1) Late Deliveries of Swiber Supporter and Swiber Concorde – Management has explained that these delays were unfortunate and unforeseen as the yards were unable to cope with so much work and did not have the capacity to finish the vessels on time. This resulted in delays and deferred revenues while costs escalated due to commissioning and de-commissioning as well as third-party vessel charters. When quizzed if this would be a one-off scenario, Management mentioned that this was unlikely to happen in the near future as yards are now begging for business as the slowdown has meant that many customers are cancelling contracts. I also asked if there would be any penalties involved as the oil majors who had contracted Swiber would have suffered delays in the commencement of the contract. Management assured that they work very closely with the oil majors and have obtained their understanding that such delays were an inevitable part of business and oil majors accept this as part of the cost of doing business. Moreover, there are a lack of incumbent players in South-East Asia who can perform such EPCIC work, which also means Swiber has better bargaining power. To date, these vessels have been delivered and are being prepared for their respective jobs (see FY 2008 Annual Report Page 28). Read more...[caption id="attachment_2454" align="alignright" width="189" caption="Photo from Musicwhiz's Blog"]
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I attended the AGM cum EGM of Swiber Holdings Limited held on April 30, 2009 at 9 a.m. Due to the fact that there was quite a heavy torrential shower in the morning and also the presence of an accident near the AGM venue (which was the Company’s headquarters), several directors as well as shareholders arrived late. Due also to the fact that there was a lack of signs pointing to the location of the AGM and also a lack of hourly parking lots (the carpark at Swiber’s HQ was all season-parking), this also caused quite a bit of disgruntlement and there were some accusations that the AGM was not organized well. Management acknowledged the issues and said that they would learn from the experience and that all feedback would be noted and that FY 2009’s AGM would be a better experience.
The entire AGM and EGM lasted about 3 hours in total, with Management candidly answering questions from several shareholders who took to the microphone. I also managed to clarify some doubts I had with regards to certain issues which had been nagging me since the late deliveries of Swiber Concorde and Swiber Supporter, as well as some recent corporate activites. I shall now proceed to give a point by point review of the queries which were raised, issues discussed and explanations given.
1) Late Deliveries of Swiber Supporter and Swiber Concorde – Management has explained that these delays were unfortunate and unforeseen as the yards were unable to cope with so much work and did not have the capacity to finish the vessels on time. This resulted in delays and deferred revenues while costs escalated due to commissioning and de-commissioning as well as third-party vessel charters. When quizzed if this would be a one-off scenario, Management mentioned that this was unlikely to happen in the near future as yards are now begging for business as the slowdown has meant that many customers are cancelling contracts. I also asked if there would be any penalties involved as the oil majors who had contracted Swiber would have suffered delays in the commencement of the contract. Management assured that they work very closely with the oil majors and have obtained their understanding that such delays were an inevitable part of business and oil majors accept this as part of the cost of doing business. Moreover, there are a lack of incumbent players in South-East Asia who can perform such EPCIC work, which also means Swiber has better bargaining power. To date, these vessels have been delivered and are being prepared for their respective jobs (see FY 2008 Annual Report Page 28). Read more...
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I attended the AGM cum EGM of Swiber Holdings Limited held on April 30, 2009 at 9 a.m. Due to the fact that there was quite a heavy torrential shower in the morning and also the presence of an accident near the AGM venue (which was the Company’s headquarters), several directors as well as shareholders arrived late. Due also to the fact that there was a lack of signs pointing to the location of the AGM and also a lack of hourly parking lots (the carpark at Swiber’s HQ was all season-parking), this also caused quite a bit of disgruntlement and there were some accusations that the AGM was not organized well. Management acknowledged the issues and said that they would learn from the experience and that all feedback would be noted and that FY 2009’s AGM would be a better experience.
The entire AGM and EGM lasted about 3 hours in total, with Management candidly answering questions from several shareholders who took to the microphone. I also managed to clarify some doubts I had with regards to certain issues which had been nagging me since the late deliveries of Swiber Concorde and Swiber Supporter, as well as some recent corporate activites. I shall now proceed to give a point by point review of the queries which were raised, issues discussed and explanations given.
1) Late Deliveries of Swiber Supporter and Swiber Concorde – Management has explained that these delays were unfortunate and unforeseen as the yards were unable to cope with so much work and did not have the capacity to finish the vessels on time. This resulted in delays and deferred revenues while costs escalated due to commissioning and de-commissioning as well as third-party vessel charters. When quizzed if this would be a one-off scenario, Management mentioned that this was unlikely to happen in the near future as yards are now begging for business as the slowdown has meant that many customers are cancelling contracts. I also asked if there would be any penalties involved as the oil majors who had contracted Swiber would have suffered delays in the commencement of the contract. Management assured that they work very closely with the oil majors and have obtained their understanding that such delays were an inevitable part of business and oil majors accept this as part of the cost of doing business. Moreover, there are a lack of incumbent players in South-East Asia who can perform such EPCIC work, which also means Swiber has better bargaining power. To date, these vessels have been delivered and are being prepared for their respective jobs (see FY 2008 Annual Report Page 28). Read more...
