Tas Offshore Bhd's pre-tax profit surged to RM15.517 million in the financial year ended May 31, 2012 compared to RM5.324
million posted in the same period last year.

Revenue however declined to RM101.573 million from RM119.735 million posted in the same period, the company said in a filing to Bursa Malaysia today.

On the outlook, Tas said despite the disheartening global economic scenarios, the highly-resilient crude oil prices would provide a timely stimulant to the shipbuilding industry.

The company said demand for offshore support vessels is expected to increase in tandem with the higher offshore deepsea explorations and production.

"With about RM180 million shipbuilding contracts recently secured, we are optimistic in our outlook that new orders for offshore support vessels are going to resurface," it said.

Furthermore, the demand for tugboats has increased as the mining industry in Indonesia, particularly those related to coal and iron ore, are doing well, it said.

The company said financial year 2013 would remain challenging as the global recovery was still uncertain but was confident that it would be a better year as the company was working towards securing more projects. -- Bernama