In the press: MMA eyes areas for expansion, page-2

Always a reason for Directors Buying on market.
Hmm....me thinks something up.

Got it,

Australian-based contractor focusing on East and West Africa, Australasia, Middle East and South- East Asia
MMA Offshore (formerly Mermaid Marine Australia) has plans to expand internationally with a focus on four key areas — East and West Africa, Australasia, the Middle East and parts of SouthEast Asia.
“We are excited, very excited about East Africa,” chief operating officer David Ross told Upstream.
“We are also interested in expanding in the Middle East.”
Ross said the company sees opportunities in the Middle East’s spot construction and ROV markets.
“This looks sound for the long term,” he added.
MMA also expects to have a presence in Indonesia in the next 18 months, where it will be subject to the country’s cabotage legislation.
“We haven’t rushed to that market… we are looking at the best options and the best partners (to work with),” Ross said of Indonesia.
MMA currently operates more than 60 vessels, supply bases at Dampier and Broome in Australia and two onshore facilities in South-East Asia — a shipyard in Batam, Indonesia and a Singapore yard at Tuas.
There is also an office in Malaysia — one of four Southeast Asian countries where the contractor currently operates offshore.
MMA already has “people on the ground” in the Middle East and plans to open an office there within 12 months.
The contractor has elected to focus on shallow to mid-water anchor handling tug supply vessels in the range of between 4000 to 12,000-horsepower — most of its fleet have around 8000 hp. It also has a fleet of medium platform supply vessels, which Ross said means deck space of between 600 and 1000 square metres.
“We have no exposure to deep and ultra-deep waters and do not expect any such exposure in the short term,” said Ross.
He explains MMA’s strategy: “We have picked the markets we can succeed best in… not full global exposure.”
Today, about 30 of its vessels are working in Australia, with the other half of the fleet in other regions.
However, the number deployed in Australia will decrease as mega-projects such as Chevron’s Gorgon come into operation.
Like many within the industry, Fremantle, Australia-based MMA is not immune to the impact of the prevailing low oil price.
“Most of our clients are lowering the capex and opex. We have had requests from our clients [to reduce our prices],” said Ross.
“We are working fairly actively with them on solutions. There is no point in ignoring these requests.”
MMA last June acquired for US$495 million Singapore-based Jaya Holdings and its 28 vessels — 19 AHTS vessels, three PSVs, three flat-top cargo barges, one anchor handling tug, one multi-purpose maintenance work offshore vessel and one accommodation barge.
“The combination of the Mermaid Marine and Jaya businesses under a single global brand represents the evolution of the company as we expand into new geographies and diversify our service offering,” said MMA managing director Jeff Weber. The greatest short-term challenges for MMA will come as it expands its fleet with newbuilds and continues to integrate Java’s vessels.
Ross said that MMA needs to have high quality people in its team and needs to improve productivity. “We cannot afford breakdowns… we need the right people be they masters, chief engineers or deckhands and in our supply bases and offices,” he said.
However, the market place continues to offer opportunities, and clients are looking to place contracts that will deliver efficient, high-productivity solutions to achieve long-term savings, added Ross. MMA in the six months to 31 December 2014 posted revenues of A$456.3 million (US$355.8 million) an increase of 80% compared to the previous year, in part due to its acquisition of Jaya.
Pre-tax profits for the last half-year were up 71.2% to A$55.3 million.

So basically even more expansion in the pipeline. Could this be the reason for the recent 2 week long up trend of higher highs and higher lows? Looks like going to close on a higher low again. Is this a genuine reversal? If so why are the shorts not covering? I wished MMA published quarterly reports but it doesnt so we wont know anything publicly until the next reporting season.

TBH they could have cleared things up with an announcement of some kind but that would not be consistent with its policy of not posting anything unless absolutely necessary.+