Broker snap: James Fisher less reliant on marine oil

16th Mar 2010 11:18

It's been a case of nautical metaphors ahoy since marine services group James Fisher announced full-year results on Tuesday morning, with Charles Stanley pitching in with 'specialist technical steadies the ship'.The broker thinks the group's performance was 'commendable' given the difficult markets in which it operates. 'Specialist technical division was the outstanding performer, with strong organic growth and resilient margins,' Charles Stanley analyst Peter Ashworth notes. 'Offshore oil also performed satisfactorily in a difficult trading environment, with performance in line with that achieved in 2008,' Ashworth added.The situation was more cloudy at the marine oil division, which 'experienced very difficult trading conditions due to lower volumes (on lower oil demand) and significantly reduced prices.'The sector is not likely to recover until there is a pick-up in global economic activity, Ashworth reckons. Fortunately, the rest of the group's reliance on the coastal tanker fleet as a cash cow has been reduced, the broker believes.Charles Stanley has reiterated its 'add' recommendation and kept its 560p price target for the stock.