Contract wins help Getech to report record revenues

The Leeds-based group, which sells exploration data to oil firms, said the improvement reflects the general recovery in the market and a number of new contract wins, notably a deal to sell Iraqi data.

Getech, which was spun out of the University of Leeds, sells complex geological and geophysical data to help oil companies including Shell, BP and Exxon Mobil decide where to sink new wells.

Getech’s chief executive Raymond Wolfson said: “I am very pleased with our trading this year. The result will demonstrate the continuation of our recovery notwithstanding our continuing investment in future projects and additional key staff.

“We are particularly satisfied with our data sales in the year and I believe we are now positioned for continuing growth.”

Getech has also strengthened its management team with the appointment of Stuart Paton, the former chief executive of Dana Petroleum, as chairman in April.

It also recruited Paul Carey as its new international sales director.

Following the trading update, analyst Eric Burns, at house broker WH Ireland, said: “We have commented several times this year on the substantial momentum building at Getech. This announcement provides reinforcement that this is now feeding down to the bottom line and we find ourselves upgrading our forecasts for the second time in six months.

“We reiterate our ‘buy’ recommendation and set a price target of 27.5p, representing 34 per cent upside from current levels.”

Getech said the exclusive marketing agreement for Iraqi data will reinforce its position as one of the leading providers of exploration data to the world’s oil industry.

Iraq has settled down recently and as the country with the world’s fourth largest oil reserve, Getech is keen to expand operations there. Saudi Arabia has the biggest oil reserves in the world, followed by Canada, Iran, Iraq and Kuwait.

Getech is considering resuming acquisitions after reporting a strong recovery from the downturn, buoyed by the surging oil price.

The company returned to the black earlier this year, making pre-tax profits of £294,000 in the six months to the end of January, compared with £392,000 losses a year earlier.

Half year sales more than doubled to £2.65m from £1.17m in 2010.

“We put new acquisitions on hold through a period when our share price was low,” said Mr Wolfson. “We are ambitious to pick up on the opportunity to build the company over the next few years.”

“The strong message coming through is that oil companies want to spend on our studies,” he added.