Marco Polo Marine’s full year profit drops 55%

In its financial year ended 30 September 2014, Marco Polo Marine reported a profit of SGD10.15m ($7.82m), down 55% compared to $22.34m in the previous financial year.

Full year revenue, however, rose 21% year-on-year to SGD113.11m due mainly to higher contributions from the shipbuilding and repair operations and ship chartering operations.

The lower 2014 profit was also due partly to a lack of a SGD5.89m exceptional gain in 2013 in connection with a deemed disposal.

“The group expects the offshore business of its ship chartering operations to continue to spearhead its growth for the next 12 months as evident by the elevated utilisation rates registered by its existing OSVs,” Marco Polo Marine commented.

“The group’s shipbuilding and repair operations are also expected to continue to be affected by the global subdued economic outlook and strong competition in the region,” the company said.

It added that its shipyard is engaged with new shipbuilding programs targeting mainly the mid-sized OSVs and in meeting internal demands, including those from PT Pelayaran Nasional Bina Buana Raya tbk (BBR) bolstered by the proposed investment by Nam Cheong as announced in September this year.

“While oil prices have been volatile and are generally declining recently to multi-year lows, the offshore oil and gas exploration and production activities in the region have so far remained resilient given that the (Asian) region is characterised by relatively shallow waters with an active and sizeable fleet of jack-up rigs in operation,” Marco Polo Marine said.