Penguin Q3 profit grows 50% on gains from vessel sales

Penguin International's third-quarter net profit grew 49.6 per cent after the ferry operator sold some vessels.

Penguin's profit rose to S$12.0 million, or 1.81 Singapore cents per share, for the three months ended September. Nine-month profit slipped 4.2 per cent to S$23.9 million, or 3.62 Singapore cents per share.

Penguin shares closed at 14.8 Singapore cents on Monday, lower by 1.3 per cent or 0.2 Singapore cent, before the results were announced.

Third-quarter revenue from continuing operations declined by 7.2 per cent to S$48.3 million as shipbuilding activity slowed down, although chartering activity picked up.

The bottom line got a boost from other operation income, which jumped to S$4.2 million from a year-ago S$194,000 largely because of gains from the sale of vessels.

Penguin noted that demand for crewboats and fast supply intervention vessels has shrunk because of worsening sentiments in the offshore oil and gas industry. The company said that it had earlier reduced the number of its Flex crewboats built for sale and charter as well as moderating the pace of production and cutting costs.