Aberdeenshire pipeline specialist Stats books sharp revenue rise just weeks after takeover called off

Aberdeenshire pipeline technology specialist Stats Group has booked a 17 per cent jump in revenues and is forecasting a further rise this year amid continued global expansion.

The firm, which was recently the subject of takeover interest, said revenues rose to just under £50 million while earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda), or underlying profits, increased to £7.8m from £6.5m.

The accounts for the year to December 31, 2021 also show the group’s pre-tax profits rose from £1m to £1.5m.

Headquartered in Kintore, near Aberdeen, Stats principal activity is the provision of pressurised pipeline isolation, “hot tapping” and plugging services to the global oil, gas and petrochemical industries.

The firm operates from its Scottish HQ, Edmonton in Canada, Houston in the United States, Abu Dhabi, Oman and Qatar in the Middle East, Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia and Perth, Australia.

Chief executive Leigh Howarth, said the company had delivered “an excellent trading result for the year” despite the ongoing impact of the pandemic.

“Internationalisation remains a key strategic objective for the group with 87 per cent of revenue in the year derived from contracts executed outside of the United Kingdom,” he added.

“The Middle East was one of the strongest performing regions with revenues increasing from £7.9m in 2020 to £11.6m, while in Malaysia income rose sharply to £1.4m. The group consolidated growth in its domestic UK market with revenues up from £5.1m to £6.7m, while the Canadian market grew from £6.7m to £7.8m.

Headquartered in Kintore, near Aberdeen, Stats principal activity is the provision of pressurised pipeline isolation, 'hot tapping' and plugging services to the global oil, gas and petrochemical industries. Picture: Simon Price

“Notwithstanding the continuing impacts of Covid-19, we’re expecting to see a further rise in revenue over the coming year and in support of our strategy to further internationalise, we’ll be considering plans to increase our local presence in both Saudi Arabia and Australia.”

Earlier this month, a potential £73m acquisition of Stats Group was called off.

In December, the company revealed that it had reached agreement on the transaction with SRJ Technologies Group, a publicly listed company on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASE).

SRJ planned to undertake an offer of shares to fund the deal and provide working capital for the combined group, but has now advised the ASE that the transaction will not proceed.

The firm said it continued to believe in the merits of the merger but the decision was the result of market volatility caused by underlying macro, geopolitical and supply chain events.

In a statement, the group noted: “SRJ and its advisors explored several Australian and global funding alternatives to raise the capital required to complete the transaction but the significant changes to underlying market conditions since the start of 2022 made this extremely challenging. The acquisition of Stats will not proceed and the share purchase agreement executed on 14 December 2021 will be terminated.”

The two groups confirmed they will continue to collaborate at an operational level in multiple regional markets including across the UK, Canada, the US, Middle East and Asia Pacific.

During 2021, Stats recorded a number of “important operational milestones”, including its continued expansion in the North American market.