French membrane cargo containment system designer GTT has benefited from fresh LNG carrier orders and LNG fuel tank business, which has more than doubled its third-quarter revenue.
GTT described LNG carrier ordering momentum as “continuing”.
In the third quarter of 2023, the company said it booked orders for 10 vessels bringing the total for the first nine months of this year to 52 ships — plus one floating LNG production unit — which will deliver between 2026 and the first quarter of 2028.
As of 30 September, GTT said its orderbook for vessels stood at 302 units comprising 287 LNG carriers, two ethane carriers, one floating storage and regasification unit, one FLNG production unit and 11 storage tanks.
During the third quarter, the company booked orders to fit LNG fuel tanks for 15 container ships, bringing the number of vessels in its LNG fuelling orderbook to 84 units as of 30 September 2023 — the largest total the company has recorded.
“These orders mark a resumption of LNG-as-fuel activity as LNG spot prices stabilise,” GTT said.
Revenue for the first nine months of this year jumped over 35% to €300m ($318m) from €222m.
Third quarter revenue for the year more than doubled to €122.2m, up 57% on the same three months of 2022, which the company attributed to the gradual increase in the number of LNG carriers under construction.
GTT said it expects to reach the “upper half” of its February guidance on full-year revenue for 2023 of between €385m and €430m.
Company chairman and chief executive Philippe Berterottiere said the commercial performance of the company’s core business “continues to be very strong”.
Berterottiere said: “LNG demand remains particularly high and sustainable, as illustrated by the number of final investment decisions for new liquefaction plants made since the beginning of the year, leading to additional LNG carrier needs.”
The GTT chief highlighted company subsidiary Ascenz Marorka — which this year won contracts from shipowners including GasLog and CMA CGM — as “underlining the relevance of our digital solutions”.
“Elogen, our subsidiary specialising in electrolysers for green hydrogen production, posted a strong increase in revenues, reflecting the orderbook growth seen since 2022,” he added.
The company also flagged up a huge raft of approvals in principle, which it has notched up during 2023, largely in the field of alternative fuels.
In September, the AiPs awarded included those for a dual-fuel VLCC with a 12,500-cbm LNG fuel tank and a dual-fuel suezmax tanker with a 5,500-cbm fuel tank, both developed in collaboration with Deltamarin.
Under its start-up investment fund GTT Strategic Ventures, in September, the company acquired a 9% stake in bound4blue, which is developing wind-assisted automated propulsion systems for maritime transportation.
