Marco Polo Marine H2 profit up 19% to S$10.5 million, no dividend proposed
INTEGRATED marine logistics company Marco Polo Marine on Thursday (Nov 24) reported a net profit of S$10.5 million for the second half of the fiscal year ended September, a 19 per cent increase from earnings of S$8.8 million in the year-ago period.
No dividend was proposed for the period under review, unchanged from the corresponding year-ago period. The company said it would like to “conserve cash” for its capital expenditure requirements in the coming financial year.
This took the group’s profit for the full year to S$21.3 million, some 44 per cent higher than earnings of S$14.8 million in the previous year, according to a bourse filing.
Revenue for H2 came in at S$58.5 million, more than double the group’s topline of S$25 million in the corresponding period last year. Cost of sales for H2 was also up to S$39.2 million from S$18 million, which crimped the group’s margins.
About 58 per cent of revenue for H2, or S$34.2 million came from the company’s ship chartering operations. The remaining 42 per cent or S$24.3 million came from ship building and repair operations.
Marco Polo Marine said the revenue from ship chartering operations was mainly due to the consolidation of results of Indonesian shipping agency company PT Pelayaran Nasional Bina Buana Raya (PT BBR) and Taiwan-based PKR Offshore (PKRO) from March and May respectively.
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PT BBR contributed a revenue of S$6.9 million, while PKRO contributed a revenue of S$10.4 million from the point of consolidation, said the company.
Marco Polo Marine added that it has also achieved higher average utilisation rates for both its fleets of offshore vessels and the fleet of tugboats and barges. The company has also obtained higher charter rates for its fleet of offshore vessels in the current year, it added.
For shipbuilding and repair operations, the group said there was an increase in volume and contract values of the repair projects during the year.
In its outlook statement, the company said the broader offshore and shipping industries continue to face uncertainties amid challenging macroeconomic and geopolitical situations.
In particular, war-induced commodity price increases and broadening price pressures have led to rising inflation this year, the group noted, which have resulted in an increase in cost of “doing business”.
Marco Polo Marine said it will continue to improve operational efficiency and tighten cost control to enhance its competitiveness.
The company is also looking to further extend its reach into segments such as the renewable energy sector.
Its ship chartering business will continue to explore opportunities to support the booming offshore windfarm market. The company will also continue to focus on securing ship repair and maintenance orders by expanding its customer base internationally for its shipyard division.
The company will release “further updates on its business and operations” on Dec 6, it said.
Shares of Marco Polo Marine ended Thursday at S$0.044, up 2.3 per cent or S$0.001 ahead of the results announcement.
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