Swiber Holdings has slipped into the red in 2015 against a profit in 2014 due mainly to impairment charges and absence of one-time gains.

Net loss attributable to owners of the company for financial year ended 31 December 2015 was reported at $27.38m as against the profit of $16.42m in 2014.

Revenue, however rose by 14.7% year-on-year to $833m on higher contributions from Latin America and new projects in South Asia.

Singapore-listed Swiber noted that its other operating income fell 91.4% year-on-year to $8.9m due chiefly to the presence of a one-time gain in 2014 on disposal of a group of subsidiaries and associates, as well as lower foreign exchange gains and the absence of write-back receivables in 2015.

Impariment loss of trade receivables amounting to $8.6m raised other operating expenses by 100.9% from $5.9m in 2014 to $11.9m in 2015. Impairment loss of investment in an associate of $24.6m has further hurt the company’s bottom line.

“The oil and gas industry remains very cautious due to the weak oil prices with major oil companies aggressively cutting costs and delaying their projects. However, we believe that the impact on shallow water activities will be lower,” said Francis Wong, ceo and president of Swiber.

As at 29 February 2016, Swiber’s orderbook stood at $1.35bn and the group continues to make headway in strengthening its capabilities in higher-value EPIC (engineering, procurement, installation, and construction) services.

Recently, the group won a contract worth approximately $100m to provide EPCI services for a national oil firm in South Asia. The project, which includes pipelines and subsea installation works, has started and is expected to be completed in the first half of 2017.