Singapore-listed dry bulk owner Courage Marine posted a loss of USD2.38 million for the first quarter ended 31 March 2015, up 136% year on year (y/y) from its loss of USD1.01 million in the first quarter of 2014.
The company’s turnover decreased by 77% y/y to USD1.2 million in the first quarter of 2015 from USD5.3 million, while recording a gross loss of USD1.64 million in the first quarter of 2015 from USD56,000 in the corresponding period in 2014.
Courage Marine cited in its filing to the Singapore Exchange (SGX) that the decrease in earnings was due to poor dry bulk market and low freight rate, reflected by the low level of Baltic Dry Index (BDI) during most of the first quarter in 2015.
The company also incurred higher finance cost at USD290,000 in the first quarter in 2015, up 3% y/y from USD280,000 mainly because of the bank borrowings.
Moving forward, Courage Marine expects its fleet utilisation to remain low for the rest of 2015 because of the poor operating environment. In addition, low demand of commodities in the Greater China region, especially during the Chinese New Year period, and oversupply of vessels led to more pressure on the freight rates in the dry bulk market.
Currently, the updated tonnage of Courage Marine’s fleet is approximately 335,000 dwt and the company is exploring various options for reducing costs, including operating costs during these challenging economic conditions.
This post was sourced from IHS Maritime 360: View the original article here.