Gulf Marine jettisons boss in stormy waters
The boss of Gulf Marine Services stepped down today, becoming the third major casualty of the firm’s pains as it warned on profits.
Duncan Anderson resigned with immediate effect as the chief executive and director of the board.
Read more: Gulf Marine sinks like a stone as shares drop 75 per cent
He follows the company’s chairman and chief finance officer out the door at Gulf Marine, whose share price has plummeted over the last year.
In December the company lost three quarters of its value after warning it would not meet obligations to lenders.
The company’s trouble stems from the 2014 downturn in the price of oil.
In the five-year run-up to the collapse, Gulf Marine and its competitors invested in their fleets of vessels that service oil rigs.
However after the 2014 crash the oversupply meant that there were too many ships and not enough work to go around.
After originally saying that 2019 would reach similar levels as last year, Gulf Marine was today forced to admit its $58m (£48m) earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation (Ebitda) will likely fall between $45m and $48m this year.
It had previously forecast flat Ebitda for the year.
The company said that 2020 looks brighter, but that market conditions are still “challenging”.
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Tim Summers, the board’s non-executive chair, will take over as executive chair until a new candidate can be found.
“Management, the new board and the group’s advisers, have been in negotiation with the group’s banks on resetting its capital structure and progress has been made,” the company said in a statement.