I’m honored and excited to be welcoming in a new year as CEO of Stowen. We have a lot of great things happening, many of which are featured in this edition of the Stowen news. 

As a company, we are fortunate to have so many critical elements for success already in place. We maintain a diverse client portfolio across global territories in the markets we serve and have a pool of extremely talented and committed people to help us grow and adapt. 

2016 was a difficult year for many energy and infrastructure companies. We have experienced significant headwinds in several markets, reduced CAPEX in mining, government spending reductions, a fragile global economy and of course the continued volatility in the carbon energy sector. 

Throughout last year we saw Brent prices fluctuating between 27$/B and 58$/B resulting in an average of only 44$/B for the year. In this difficult environment Stowen has demonstrated its resilience by maintaining growth and profitability thanks to our depth of service and level of diversification. We invested aggressively amid the downturn to ensure we have a head-start on our peers. 

“Where others are talking about getting back to growth, we are doing that already!”

Our FY16 results produced a great balance sheet albeit reflective of the current dynamic and extremely competitive environment. 

2017 has galvanised optimism as the market shows signs of rebalancing. The announcement made by BP Chief Executive Bob Dudley detailed an increase in capital expenditure from $16 billion to around $17 billion. This felt like a significant turning point. Additionally, OPEC recently delivered on the production target cut first announced back in late September. This action could send global oil production into deficit relative to demand in 1Q17 for the first time since the beginning of 2014. 

Stowen continue to prepare the groundwork for growth by strengthening our position in the Middle East. With several significant contracts already in place, 2017 is set to be a “flat out” year for us! 

Elsewhere in Stowen:

Stowen Clean Energy Group continues to make an impact in the wind sector whilst also enjoying their first steps into solar. This rapidly expanding market will feature heavily in our future portfolio. We will be updating on news over the coming months.

The compliance team have had a busy start to 2017, with Stowen being awarded a plethora of accreditations. ISO 14001, OSHAS 18001, IRATA membership and ABS accredited service provider for inspections. 

A sincere thanks to our employees, clients, shareholders and board members for their support and commitment as we continue to move Stowen into a new era of success.