Cancellation of vessel in advanced building stage turns Nam Cheong into the red in Q1

NAM Cheong on Thursday said that it has gone into the red, reporting net losses of RM40.1 million (S$13.5 million) for the first quarter ended March 31, 2016, a reversal from a net profit of RM39.3 million a year ago.

Revenue was negative at -RM93.1 million versus RM326.3 million a year ago.

The offshore support vessels builder blamed the negative revenue on its shipbuilding segment, mainly due to the reversal of revenue from Perdana Petroleum Berhad's cancellation of an accommodation work barge whose construction was at an advanced stage. There was also a lower number of vessel deliveries in Q1 compared with a year ago.

Subsequently, earnings was also affected by gross losses due to lower utilisation rate of its vessels, as well adverse foreign exchange movements.