Norwegian oil and gas services group Prosafe ASA has said pretax profit rose by 64 per cent in the third quarter, lifted by fuller use of its fleet, but still less than expected.

The group also expressed hopes that high oil prices would spur wider demand for its services, ranging from floating hotels for oil workers to production units.
Pretax earnings rose to $24.5 million in the three months to September 30 from $14.9 million a year earlier, lagging forecasts of $29 million in a Reuters survey of eight analysts.
The company said the third quarter operating profit of $31.6 million was the best in its history. Turnover gained to $132.2 million from $106.1 million a year earlier and slightly beat the average forecast of $127 million.
In drilling services, Prosafe’s biggest unit by turnover, the company forecast “a high activity level within the platform drilling market in the North Sea"