Yangzijiang Q1 profit tumbles 51% following China lockdown

YANGZIJIANG Shipbuilding's net profit tumbled 51 per cent to 403.8 million yuan (S$80.8 million) for its first quarter ended March 31, 2020 from 824.1 million yuan a year ago.

The drop in net profit followed a slowdown in production during the quarter due to China's government-ordered temporary shutdown to contain the Covid-19 outbreak, the company said late Wednesday night.

Earnings per share was 10.31 fen for the quarter versus 20.88 fen a year ago.

Revenue fell 44 per cent to 3.50 billion yuan from 6.29 billion yuan for the year-ago period following China's temporary shutdown.

No dividend was declared for the quarter, unchanged from a year ago.

The group secured new contracts for seven vessels worth US$360 million in the first quarter.

Its outstanding order book stood at US$2.9 billion as at March 31, 2020. This will keep yard capacity utilised at a healthy rate until late 2021, the group said.

Ren Letian, chief executive officer, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding, said the group had taken several proactive measures to resume production following a short disruption due to an extended lockdown period ordered by the Chinese government after Chinese New Year.

"By the end of March, almost 100 per cent of the workers have resumed working. We also started longer shifts and hired additional workers wherever needed since March to make up for the lost time," he said.

"Now, the construction of vessels is in good progress and the delivery schedule is within control."

Shares of Yangzijiang Shipbuilding closed up 0.5 Singapore cent or 0.5 per cent to 97.5 cents on Wednesday.