Offshore engineering firm Tekmar says it expects to break even this year as takeover talks continue.
Last month the Darlington cable specialist extended negotiations with a potential bidder that it hopes can inject investment to turnaround a loss making position. In new results for 2022, Tekmar said it had narrowed losses with an adjusted Ebitda loss of £2.1m, compared with £2.9m in 2021.
Revenue was broadly flat at £30.1m but CEO Alasdair MacDonald said he hoped the firm would see revenue in the region of £40m this year. He said it was "business as usual" as the firm worked to secure a deal that could help it capitalise on increased activity in the offshore wind market with record enquiries worth £390m said to have come forward.
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The firm said that while that interest was encouraging it was taking time to convert the enquiries into contracts. Tekmar's order book at the end of 2022 stood at £22.9m as investors were told profitability is expected in 2024.
Recent contract wins for Tekmar include the extension of its work with DEME Offshore to supply its cable protection systems to the Dogger Bank C wind farm; £8m of projects in the Middle East and work announced last summer to supply a Japanese wind farm project.
Alasdair MacDonald, CEO of Tekmar Group, said: "FY22 represents a transitional year for the group. Our second half performance highlights the operational improvements we are making are working as we stabilise the business. There is still work to do to complete the transition and our order book provides good visibility as the transition continues in 2023.
"We continue to prioritise the stability of the business through a focus on cash, a disciplined commercial approach and seeking to strengthen the group's balance sheet. Our differentiated offering resonates with the industry and this puts us in a lead position as the market accelerates its investment in offshore wind through 2030.
"In terms of outlook, we are encouraged that we continue to secure landmark contract awards at improved project margins and at lower execution risk. We remain cautious, however, in the near-term on the likely lead times for project awards and starts in the offshore wind market and we expect this is likely to suppress the volume required to restore profitability for the current financial year."
In the results post to the London Stock Exchange, Tekmar also said it was working with installers and wind farm operators to address issues with past cable installation projects identifed by some customers. The firm said the precise cause of the issues was unclear but could be to do with the absence of a second layer of rock to stabilise the cables.
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