Otto Marine sinks into the red for Q2

OTTO Marine sank into the red with a net loss of US$2.72 million for the second quarter ended June 30, compared to a US$16.86 million profit a year ago, on the back of lower revenue and higher finance costs.

Revenue slumped 36.4 per cent to US$71.22 million as all its business segments contributed lower revenue.

Loss per share came to 0.06 US cent, compared to earnings per share of 0.41 US cent previously.

Finance costs swelled to US$9.21 million, from US$5.77 million previously.

For the first half of the financial year, net loss totalled US$15.95 million, versus a profit of US$2.48 million a year ago, while revenue rose nearly 16 per cent to US$219.27 million.

"Despite the challenging oil and gas market, the group managed to improve its vessels utilization rate in Q2 vis-a-vis Q1. The group is focused on maintaining the vessels utilization amid challenging charter rates through strengthening its order book and the rationalisation of its cost structure," Otto Marine said.

It went on to warn, however, that market conditions in the marine sector are unlikely to improve significantly in the next one year.