Although the listing rules no longer require listed companies to issue interim statements, in the interest of transparency and providing the market with information, the board of Directors at Medserv plc have agreed to continue with their commitment to communicate with the market on regular basis and will continue to issue interim reports.

In the Interim Report issued earlier today, the Company reports that despite the slight recovery in oil prices, the Group continues to feel the effect of the price of oil as the market maintains the pressure for discounts on the Company’s services. Albeit, the Company remains very busy and forecasts that the total revenue for 2016 is expected to exceed that of 2015 and profits are expected to remain stable.

In Malta the base continued to host a number of staff from IOCs and contractors working on the offshore contracts in which the Company is engaged. As a consequence, the Company’s offices, warehouses and open areas are almost fully utilised.

The Company has been awarded two contracts in respect of the replacement of an offshore storage facility permanently lying offshore Libya. The Company is delighted to be part of this major project and to be housing the main contractors and their representatives at the Medserv base in Malta.

The Company expects exploration drilling to re-commence offshore Libya in July of this year and reports that there are a number of contracts relating to other projects in the renewal or final negotiation stage.

The integration of the METS Group following the acquisition of the Middle East based Group of Companies earlier this year, is proceeding well. As Medserv moves into the more technically advanced areas of essential engineering services for the Oil and Gas Industry, the Company reports  that indications being received suggest a strengthening demand for METS core services of inspection, storage and repair of premium OCTG pipe.

METS business remains particularly strong in Oman and is expected to continue at these levels or improve during the year. METS Iraq and METS UAE have experienced a slowdown in the first quarter of this year, but the Company reports that the business pipeline is indicating an improvement in the second quarter of this year.

The activities of Medserv Cyprus remain at an extremely reduced level whilst the Company is awaiting the decisions of its main customer ENI on their future drilling programme offshore Cyprus. In the meantime, a bid has been submitted for a contract to be awarded by another IOC who intend to drill from the Port of Limassol as an alternative to the Port of Larnaca. The Government of Cyprus have also announced a new bidding round for areas delineated for exploration drilling.

The Company also reports that it is working on a number of potential new projects in new geographical areas. An international tender has been issued by a major IOC relating to the provision of a comprehensive supply base in Trinidad. The Company reports that it has bid for this business and has also tendered for a contract related to an exploration well offshore Portugal, the latter being at a more advanced stage of the process.

The Company is also continuing to study how it can enter the market in other parts of the world including Egypt and Iran.