Two years of market uncertainty have proved a frustration for AIM listed petroleum and minerals consultancy, Getech Group (LON:GTC) . As a specialist in producing detailed and expansive geological maps that help oil and mining companies pin down areas of potential, the company suffered last year as early stage exploration generally took a back seat in the wake of the economic downturn. Nevertheless, a swing into profit in the second half of the year to July combined with buoyant oil prices of over $80 a barrel have triggered more optimism from the company’s CEO, Raymond Wolfson. He believes that extra investment in Getech’s products and some high impact contract wins have set the scene for a stronger year in 2011.
Getech was set up by executive chairman Derek Fairhead back in 1986 and later spun out of Leeds University in 1992. Under his leadership, the company secured the backing of a number of oil groups to create a detailed geological map of Africa using gravity and magnetic information. Indeed, the company’s database covering Africa remains a big draw for Getech’s clients. With free reign to go and market the data to the rest of the industry, Fairhead and his team set about creating similar databases covering much of the world. The company was bought-out in 2000 by the University of Leeds Commercialisation Company, with Wolfson joining as chief executive ahead of its IPO in September 2005.
The company posted a profit of £0.8m in 2007 and £0.9m in 2008 but slipped to a loss of £0.6m in 2009 as the effects of recession took hold. This year, the loss was down to £0.2m on flat revenues of £3.25m and a profit in the second half of the year is being seen – by house broker WH Ireland, at least – as a sign that markets finally appear to be returning to some sort of normality and that this momentum can be sustained into the current year. For investors eyeing the wider sector, Getech’s presence in the Oil Equipment & Services segment of the AIM market means that its peers range from the likes of Offshore Hydocarbon Mapping Plc (LON:OHM) , Kbc Advanced Technologies (LON:KBC) ,
