Maritime services company SBM Offshore booked net profit of $139m in the first six months of 2007, compared with $98m in the same period last year.

Turnover was up from $823m to $1.4bn, well above analysts’ expectations.
SBN Offshore, which made the announcement after the close of trading in Amsterdam on Tuesday, said it expected to book full year earnings of $265m, a slight increase on earlier forecasts.