UPDATE 3-SBM Offshore beats estimates on strong delivery

* 2010 revenue $3.06 bln vs Rtrs poll avg $2.99 bln

* 2010 operating result $362.4 mln vs Rtrs poll avg $328 mln

* Sees 2011 turnover in the same range as 2010

* Shares up 5.5 pct, top index gainers

(Adds CEO, CFO comments, updates shares)

By Greg Roumeliotis

AMSTERDAM, March 4 (Reuters) - Dutch-listed maritime oil and gas engineer SBM Offshore (SBMO.AS) saw a higher-than-expected 23.5 percent rise in 2010 operating profit as margins in turnkey systems nearly doubled on smoother delivery of projects.

Shares in SBM hit a 32-month high and were up 5.5 percent to 19.33 euros at 1140 GMT, the largest gainers in the Amsterdam bluechip index .AEX which was up 0.6 percent.

"SBM's operational performance is turning the corner. Operational results were very strong in turnkey systems but also in the lease-and-operate unit if you exclude writedowns," said Paul Andriessen, analyst at ABN AMRO.

The world's largest supplier of floating production, storage and offloading platforms (FPSOs) does not benefit directly from the spiral in oil prices but stands to gain from a constraint in energy supply that makes oil majors dig deeper for black gold.

"The exploration and production budgets for most of the oil majors have been significantly increased for this year, compared to last year, and are back up to the high levels seen before the crisis," SBM Chief Executive Tony Mace told a press conference.

GOOD RECOVERY

SBM, which competes with Japan's Modec (6269.T) and Norway's BW Offshore (BWO.OL), said its turnkey systems unit, which designs and supplies equipment for drilling platforms and the offshore construction industry, had made a good recovery.

The group's yearly earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) rose to $362.4 million on revenue of $3.06 billion. Analysts in a Reuters poll were expecting EBIT of $328 million on revenue of just under $3 billion.

The company said it would pay a dividend of $0.71 per share, exceeding the $0.63 per share expected by analysts. It said its order portfolio stood at a record high of $11.5 billion, up 14.7 percent from last year's $10 billion -- itself a record .

SBM said it expected 2011 turnover in the same range as 2010, with 90 percent of it secured from its current portfolio.

SBM Chief Financial Officer Mark Miles told the press conference that the company was looking to reduce project financing risk by diversifying away from bank loans, yet he did not foresee tapping shareholders for cash in the near future.

"We would expect to diversify our debt sources to some kind of capital markets instrument in 2011. Everything is on the table including straight bonds, private placement, convertible bonds, project bonds, we are in evaluation phase," Miles said.

SBM, which focuses on deepwater contracts in Brazil, Africa, Asia, the Gulf of Mexico and the North Sea for energy majors such BP (BP.L) and Petrobras (PETR4.SA), said it targeted several projects and was optimistic about its 2011 order intake.

European oil services firms are gearing up in 2011 for further strong demand, not just in production platforms but for everything from rigs to underwater pipes, as high crude prices speed up a global race to find new reserves. [ID:nLDE71G0O7] (Editing by Sara Webb and David Holmes)