BMT Group Ltd, the leading international maritime design, engineering and risk management consultancy, has announced a strong performance for the year to 30 September 2014. BMT secured revenues of £165.1m, with underlying operating profits of £10m, a proportion of which has been distributed to the staff through the company’s profit share schemes.
Comprising 24 operating companies, involved in activity across 10 markets in 35 countries, the BMT group continues to concentrate on its core maritime-focussed offering across the defence, energy, environment and transport sectors. Highlights for the year include the establishment of a new company, BMT SMART which aims to further develop and bring to market its ship and fleet performance management tools and associated consultancy services.
David McSweeney, BMT’s Finance Director explains: 'The challenging markets of 2014 have underlined the value of our diversified portfolio. The collapse in commodity prices in Australia for example, meant we sustained losses in our mining machinery operations; however, they were largely offset by a strong performance in the European defence market. The overall result has been a good performance in what, in many markets and regions, has been a tough year.'
He continues: 'We entered the year with a strong order book across our markets. This, together with the agile structure of our operating companies, will help us respond quickly and effectively to changes in the high-value markets we have made our focus.'
The year also saw growing interest in BMT’s Caimen fast landing craft design, for three programmes in the US and Japan. Working with its partner DSME, BMT built on the successful modification of its Aegir tanker platform for the UK’s Royal Fleet Auxiliary with another modification for the Norwegian Defence Logistics Organisation.
BMT continues to explore opportunities to transfer knowledge across geographies and sectors and has recently taken its strong technical abilities in flood risk to the American market. Furthermore, building on LNG terminal work in India and South East Asia, the organisation has started exploring infrastructure and terminal opportunities in East and West Africa.
REMBRANDT, BMT’s navigation simulation software is now being applied to assist the survey and technical teams in accident reconstruction. The company has also pioneered the cost-effective adaptation of deepwater, diverless survey techniques to shallow waters. During the year, the training courses BMT has run on fatigue in the fabric of ships and offshore rigs attracted designers from around the world.
Peter French, BMT’s Chief Executive, comments: 'Despite the market downturns, we have been able to deliver another strong performance. This is undoubtedly down to the outstanding talent that is the bedrock of our business. The proof of their ability and dedication can be seen in some of the awards we have won, from the Global Business Excellence Award to being voted one of the 10 most innovative companies in Australia. The recognition of the quality and value of our services can be seen in the nature and scale of the projects entrusted to us and we’re looking forward to embracing the year ahead.'