London-based oilfield services outfit Acergy has posted first-quarter net income “identical” to that achieved this time last year, although it might have taken the sale of a vessel to garner the result, judging by numbers released Wednesday.

Acergy notched net income of $41 million in the quarter, or the same as in the year-ago span though revenues fell-off some $100 million to $503 million. In January, the company sold the offshore pipelay barge Acergy Piper for $73 million.

But company boss Jean Cahuzac said that, despite caution about the short-term oil price, oil companies “have sought to maintain activity levels across major developments and to postpone, rather than cancel, less strategic and more marginal activities”.

West Africa was reportedly down, but offshore Brazil and the North Sea activity was “good” for an offshore services company.

Cahuzac said the whole industry was focused on cost, with suppliers helping oil companies hang on to their cash by “checking variables” like project size, future costs and order volumes.

“Encouragingly, suppliers have started to grasp this imperative and are reducing prices of plant, equipment and sub-contractor services,” a statement said.

Meanwhile, the $3.65 billion backlog of a year ago had been eaten away by a billion in work just as contracts slow down amid pressure to lower costs on new contracts.

ws@scandoil.com

Tags: Acergy