The Malaysian ship owner posted operating profits of 618 million Malaysian ringgit on revenues of 2.5 billion Malaysian ringgit for the third quarter, which ended Sept. 30. 2015.
MISC Group reported operating profits of 618.9 million Malaysian ringgit (U.S. $144.2 million) for the third quarter of 2015, an increase of 27.4 percent from the same period in 2014.
Operating profits stood at 1.8 billion Malaysian ringgit for the cumulative nine months, which ended Sept. 30, 2015, an increase of 27.8 percent from the same period in 2014.
The Malaysian ship owner attributed the increased operating profits for first nine months of 2015 primarily to the petroleum and offshore businesses posting revenue increases and the chemical business reporting lower operating costs from operating a smaller fleet of vessels. This was partially offset by the lower operating profits in the LNG and heavy engineering businesses.
MISC posted revenues of 2.5 billion Malaysian ringgit for the third quarter of 2015, a year-over-year increase of 14.9 percent.
For the first nine months of 2015, the company’s revenues stood at 7.6 billion Malaysian ringgit, an increase of 8.4 percent from the same period in 2014. MISC primarily attributed the positive revenue results for the first nine months of 2015 to improved freight rates in the petroleum business; revenue from an engineering, procurement and construction project in the current period; and finance lease income contribution of a floating production storage and offloading unit, which commenced in Sept. 2014. However, the positive revenue results were partially offset by the smaller fleet of operating vessels in the chemical business, lower earning days in the LNG business and different phases of project construction in the heavy engineering business.
“The petroleum shipping segment continues to enjoy the benefits of market strength in the first half of 2015 into the third quarter of the year, despite the quarter being a seasonally weaker period. This segment is likely to end the year on an equally strong note given the start of the winter season in the Northern Hemisphere, which is seasonally positive for this segment,” MISC said.
“The steady performance of the LNG shipping and offshore business segments of the past nine months will continue into the last quarter of the year on the back of long term contracts both business segments have in place,” the company added.
“However, the outlook and prospects of the upstream oil and gas industry is projected to remain poor with the prolonged weakness in oil price. The cutback in exploration and production activities will continue to weigh heavily on the offshore construction activities for the Heavy Engineering segment,” MISC said. “On a positive note, the segment’s marine repair business is expected to perform steadily for the rest of the financial year and to a limited extent, cushion the weak performance of offshore construction business.”
Headquartered in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, MISC’s fleet consists of over 110 owned and in-chartered LNG, chemical and petroleum vessels.
MISC reports sharp increases in revenues, operating profits
