Oil price rout hits O&M firms in Q1

Singapore

IT'S hard out there for an offshore and marine (O&M) firm, going by the bloodletting on display at the end of the first full financial quarter that has elapsed ever since Brent crude prices fell below US$80 per barrel in November 2014.

Offshore support vessel (OSV) builder Nam Cheong posted lower-than-expected earnings on Thursday, prompting a downgrade from some analysts, while offshore engineering firm Swiber sank into the red.

OSV owner Otto Marine, which warned on Sunday that…