Nam Cheong's Q1 profit falls 45% on weaker revenue from shipbuilding, chartering

MALAYSIAN shipbuilder Nam Cheong reported on Thursday that its net profit for the first quarter of 2015 was RM39.3 million (S$9.65 million), down 45 per cent from RM71.3 million a year ago.

Earnings per share fell to 1.87 sen, from 3.38 sen a year ago.

Revenue stood at RM326.3 million, down RM81 million or 20 per cent lower than the RM407.3 million achieved a year ago. Shipbuilding generated a lower revenue of RM310.7 million, down 19 per cent compared to RM383.2 million recorded a year ago. This was mainly due to fewer number of vessels delivered in Q1 - six compared to seven a year ago.

The vessel chartering also recorded lower revenue of RM15.6 million due mainly to lower vessel utilisation rate.

During the quarter, due to the absence of a net fair value gain on derivatives of RM5.8 million recorded a year ago, other income reached RM2.9 million compared to RM7.2 million in Q1 2014.

The group's order book stood at RM1.6 billion as at March 31, 2015, comprising a mix of offshore support vessels due for deliveries up till 2016.