The successful development of SeaEnergy's (LON:SEA) offshore wind service business should see the gap between the company's market price and the value of its assets close, says research house Edison.
The firm recently called 2011 a "transformational" year when it disposed of its windfarm business - SERL - and refocused strategy on building an energy services business.
"SeaEnergy’s 2011 results were dominated by the gain of £32.8 mln generated from the disposal of its holding in Sea Energy Renewables Limited (SERL)," said Edison analyst Graeme Moyse, who added that the headline numbers had been broadly in line with his expectations.
Following the SERL disposal, the company has decided to return £6.9 million, or 10 pence per share, to shareholders.
Beyond this return, expected later this summer, said Moyse, the firm's future depended on its ability to develop its offshore wind service business.
In a three pronged strategy, it will first attempt to leverage its design for an offshore wind farm support vessel by reaching agreement with a large owner of vessels.
Secondly, it will seek to buy small profitable businesses that offer O&M (operations and maintenance) services, which complement SeaEnergy’s activities, while the third leg is to develop businesses that offer consulting services to the offshore wind market, said the analyst.
"Successful execution of this strategy will be crucial in the development of the share price," said the analyst.
Recently, the strong performance of Celtic Sea explorer Lansdowne Oil & Gas (LON:LOGP), in which SeaEnergy holds a 24.68 per cent stake, has supported the firm's share price, says Moyse.
However, there was still a significant gap between the market price of SeaEnergy (29 pence a share), and the value of its cash balance (32 pence a share) and its stake in Lansdowne (17pence a share), he said.
"No value is being accorded currently to SeaEnergy’s activities in the offshore wind market."
Sea Energy posted a profit of £25.3 million last year after making a loss of £5.7 million in 2010, while EPS stood at 37.08 pence compared with losses per share of 7.65 pence in the previous year.