Malaysia-listed shipowner, MISC has more than doubled its profit to MYR766.4 million (USD198.9 million) for the second quarter of 2015 from MYR319 million in 2Q14, as a result of improved freight rates in petroleum business.
Revenue was up slightly by 2% to MYR2.6 billion in 2Q15 as compared to MYR2.54 billion in 2Q14, with earnings recognised from an engineering, procurement, and construction project in the current quarter and finance lease income contribution of a floating, production, storage, and offloading unit which began in September 2014.
Meanwhile, MISC recorded lower costs from its general and administrative expenses which dropped 35% to MYR158 million in 2Q15 from MYR243.4 million in 2Q14. Similarly, its finance cost dipped 49% to MYR48.2 million in 2Q15 compared to MYR95.4 million in the same period last year.
MISC has attributed the lower operating costs to its downsized fleet of operating vessels in the chemical business. However, its liquefied natural gas business recorded lower operating profit from lower revenue while additional provision for cost to complete an ongoing project caused a decline in its heavy engineering segment operating profit.
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“The strength in the petroleum shipping segment enjoyed in the first half of 2015 is likely to be carried into the second half of the year, barring any material cutback in global oil production.” said MISC in its filings to Bursa Malaysia.
MISC is expecting a marked improvement of its petroleum shipping segment for the full year financial performance but the company adopted a mixed market outlook for its chemical shipping segment.
This post was sourced from IHS Maritime 360: View the original article here.
