Vard's Q2 earnings take a dive

Singapore

SHIPBUILDER Vard Holdings has started to cut jobs after activity at its shipyards fell due to the crude oil slump, and it expects the drop in yard utilisation to get worse for the rest of 2015 and 2016.

Vard said in a Singapore Exchange filing in the early hours of Wednesday that net profit for its second quarter dived 58.6 per cent from the previous year to 58 million Norwegian kroner, which analysts said was below market expectations. Translated into Singapore dollars as at June 30, the drop was even steeper - the Q2 earnings worked out to S$10 million, a 64.3 per cent plunge over the same period, the company said.