Keppel Offshore & Marine (O&M) has returned to profit in the first nine months of 2019, figures just released by the company show.

The offshore arm of Keppel Corp reported a year-to-date net profit of SGD 18m ($13.2m) against a loss of SGD 38m seen a year ago.

The Singapore-listed company said the result “reflected its progress” in securing new orders and the increased workload.

New contracts secured by the offshore division year-to-date amount to about SGD 1.9bn, with close to 60% of these new orders for LNG and renewables-related projects.

The third quarter saw Keppel reached a settlement agreement with Sete Brasil, bring to a close the outstanding contracts for the construction of the six rigs.

The settlement agreement will become effective upon the fulfilment of certain conditions precedent, including the successful sale of two rigs by Sete Brasil to Magni Partners, Keppel said.

“As part of the agreement, the contracts for the other four uncompleted rigs are considered amicably terminated with no penalties, refunds or additional amounts due to any party,” said Keppel Corp chief executive Loh Chin Hua.

“We will have full ownership over these uncompleted rigs, and can explore various options to extract the best value from them.”

Speaking to analysts in a conference call Loh said Keppel "continued its focus on executing projects well".

He said the company had delivered an FSRU in the third quarter and a jack-up earlier this week, and is on track to deliver Singapore’s first dual-fuel bunker tanker later this year.

"Our yards completed 47 scrubber and ballast water treatment system retrofit contracts in the first nine-months, worth SGD 80m.

"We have received 100 scrubber orders since 2018 and continue to see more enquiries," he added.