Investor Relations - News
Restructuring Of The Aberdeen Subsea Robotics Division
The Board of Directors of MTQ Corporation Limited ("MTQ" or "Company") wishes to announce that its subsidiary, MTQ Subsea Technology Pte Ltd ("MTQ Subsea Tech"), will restructure the operations and activities of its wholly owned subsidiary in Aberdeen, MTQ Subsea Limited ("MTQS").
As mentioned in the Company's Annual Report 2002/2003, with regards to its subsea robotics activities, the Company intends to expand its focus on the Asian markets to reduce its reliance on the North Sea market where job volume is affected by inclement weather and short working seasons.
After a thorough review, the Directors are of the view that the Asian and Middle Eastern markets, where activities will be less hampered by weather, will provide the Company with better long-term growth opportunities and more stable earnings than the mature North Sea markets. In the Directors' opinion, it would also be more feasible and cost efficient to have the subsea robotics division located closer to its targeted markets.
Under the restructuring, the administrative and marketing functions of MTQS will be absorbed by MTQ Subsea Tech within its existing workforce. To improve mobilization, arrangements are underway to re-locate all the remotely-operated subsea vehicles and their ancillary equipment, not currently required for contracted jobs in the North Sea, to Singapore or other places in Asia and Middle East where the Company has identified as its markets. Costs will be incurred in the short term from the restructuring but the Directors believe that the more efficient use of administrative and marketing resources will bring costs savings in the long term.
Assuming that the proposed restructuring had been effected as at 1 April 2002, the exercise is expected to increase the MTQ Group's earnings per share from 6.80 cents to 7.43 cents but is not expected to have a material impact on the net tangible assets per share.