China Oilfield Services Ltd (COSL), the mainland's dominant offshore drilling services provider, has posted a 101.2 per cent year-on-year jump in third-quarter profit because of higher drilling and service charges.
Net profit for the quarter rose to 1.21 billion yuan (HK$1.38 billion) from 604.15 million yuan in the year-earlier period. Turnover increased 28.4 per cent to 3.09 billion yuan.
For the first nine months, net profit rose 61.7 per cent to 2.75 billion yuan. This compared with a 53 per cent growth forecast by CLSA head of China energy research Gordon Kwan.
The number of operating days for the company's drilling rigs slipped 7.3 per cent to 3,722 because of the upgrading of a rig and longer maintenance periods for some vessels, COSL said.
This offset the benefit from the commissioning of a new rig and more calendar days in the nine-month period, it added.
COSL did not disclose its third-quarter drilling rates.
First-half average rates surged 41.4 per cent year on year to US$117,120 per day.