Profit Last Year News

Singapore's Keppel Corp posted a 44 percent rise in its second-quarter profit, citing stronger earnings from its property and infrastructure divisions that offset losses in its other segments, including offshore and marine.Keppel, whose businesses range from rig-building to property development, posted a net profit of S$246 million ($179 million)for the quarter ended June, versus S$171 million a year-ago.Total revenue at the company, in which Singapore state investor Temasek is the biggest shareholder, was S$1.52 billion, slightly lower than the S$1.55 billion posted a year ago.Profit at the company's property division rose 132 percent to S$225 million, helped by en bloc sales in some development projects and a fair value gain.Its offshore and marine (O&M) division, which builds drilling r

The dry bulk shipping industry may not emerge from a protracted downturn for another two years and some smaller firms will be squeezed out, the chairman of France's Louis Dreyfus Armateurs said on Tuesday. The dry bulk sector that transports commodities like coal and iron ore has suffered from oversupply of vessels and faltering global industrial demand, pushing freight rates to a record low this year. Some ship operators had taken heart from signs of a pick-up this year in the Chinese steel sector, but the dry bulk industry needs to be prudent given the overcapacity to be cleared, Philippe Louis-Dreyfus told Reuters. "I don't see the end of the tunnel for another 18 months to two years," he said on the sidelines of a shipping conference.

With ultra-low container rates, multiple operators teetering on the brink of bankruptcy and adversarial relationships developing between those shipping goods and the carriers, Xeneta believes the entire container industry must evolve. The Oslo-based benchmarking and market intelligence platform for containerized ocean freight is proposing a solution it says would benefit both shippers and carriers – the introduction of ‘commodity’ status. Container rates have collapsed over the course of the last 18 months.

Shipping freight rates for transporting containers from ports in Asia to Northern Europe soared 37.2 percent to $339 per 20-foot container (TEU) in the week ended on Friday, one source with access to data from the Shanghai Containerized Freight Index told Reuters. The rise in freight rates on the world's busiest route came after major container shipping companies implemented earlier announced price hikes around April 1. The average level this year is so far $411 per TEU, less than half the average of the same period last year when it stood at $920 per TEU. The current level is widely seen as loss-making for container shipping companies like Danish Maersk Line, Switzerland-based MSC, French CMA CGM and German Hapag Lloyd .

Maersk Line posted a steep decline in profit last year to $1.3bn, well down from the 2014 result of $2.3bn and below its most recent forecast as freight rate declines accelerated in the latter stages of 2015. The net profit of Maersk Group in 2015 amounted to 0.925 billion USD, representing a decrease of 84% yoy. The company revenues decreased with 16% yoy to 40.3 billion USD. The profit decrease appears in almost all sectors of the company, but the worst for 2015 definitely was the oil and offshore. "After a satisfactory result in the first half of the year with a ROIC of 10.2%, Maersk Group was severely impacted by a widening supply-demand gap across most of our businesses, leading to significant oil price and freight rate reductions," says a statement from the company.

Shipping freight rates for transporting containers from ports in Asia to Northern Europe jumped 29 percent to $763 per 20-foot container (TEU) this week data from the Shanghai Shipping Exchange showed. It was the second consecutive week with rises of more than 25 percent for spot rates on the world's busiest route but with a combined increase of $294 it is far from the earlier announced hike by all major container shipping companies of $1,000. Freight rates on the route have tanked this year due to overcapacity in vessels and sluggish demand for goods to be transported. Spot rates generally deemed profitable for shipping companies on the route are at about $800-$1,000 per TEU.

Shipping freight rates for transporting containers from ports in Asia to Northern Europe dropped 22.8 percent to $400 per 20-foot container (TEU) in the week ended last Friday, data from the Shanghai Containerized Freight Index showed. Freight rates on the world's busiest shipping route have tanked this year due to overcapacity in available vessels and sluggish demand for transported goods. Rates generally deemed profitable for shipping companies on the route are at about $800-$1,000 per TEU. It was the third consecutive week of falling freight rates on the world's busiest route. Container freight rates have so far increased in 5 weeks this year but fallen in 23 weeks.

Maersk Line, the world's largest container shipping company, told its clients on Tuesday it would raise the freight rate from Far East Asia to Europe by $1,000 per 20-foot container (TEU) as of Aug 1. The company declined to say what the current rate was or what the new rate would be as numbers vary from port to port but the average rate from Asia to Europe as cited by the Shanghai Containerized Freight Index was $699 per TEU last week. The announced increase does not necessarily mean it will go ahead.

Shipping freight rates for transporting containers from ports in Asia to Northern Europe rose by 60.4 percent to $879 per 20-foot container (TEU) in the week ended on Friday, one source with access to data from the Shanghai Containerized Freight Index told Reuters. It was the second consecutive week of rising freight rates on the world's busiest route. Container freight rates have so far increased in 5 weeks this year but fallen in 20 weeks. In the week to Friday, container freight rates jumped 39.4 percent from Asia to ports in the Mediterranean, rose 15.6 percent to ports on the U.S. West Coast and were up 3.0 percent to ports on the U.S. East Coast. Average rates for 2015 are so far $666 per TEU compared with $1,171 last year.

CMA CGM, the world's third-largest container shipper, announced on Monday plans to order three giant vessels and said higher volumes and profit last year showed its focus on economies of scale was bearing fruit. Like market leader Maersk Line, the family-owned firm has been trying to ride out overcapacity and low freight rates by using larger, more efficient ships coupled with vessel-sharing alliances. CMA CGM was finalising the order of three vessels, each with a capacity for 20,600 20-foot containers, from South Korea's Hanjin Heavy Industries & Construction Co to deploy on its main Asia-North Europe route from the third quarter of 2017, Vice President Rodolphe Saade told reporters.

Shipping freight rates for transporting containers from ports in Asia to Northern Europe fell by 10.4 percent to $1,175 per 20-foot container (TEU) in the week ended on Friday, one source with access to data from the Shanghai Containerized Freight Index told Reuters. The fall came after last week's jump of 88 percent on the world's busiest route. Container freight rates have so far increased in 12 weeks this year but fallen in 32 weeks. "Within just one week carriers have witnessed their most recent general rate increase erode by 22 percent, reflecting how ineffective such increases are at improving revenue streams in the medium or long term," wrote container derivative trader Richard Ward from Freight Investor Services in London.

Container freight rates fell 10.2 percent on busy route; Maersk expects gradually declining rates. Freight rates for shipping containers from ports in Asia to Northern Europe fell 10.2 percent to $738 per 20-foot container (TEU) in the week ended on Friday, one source with access to data from the Shanghai Containerized Freight Index told Reuters. It was the fourth consecutive week of falling freight rates on the world's busiest route and the rate is the lowest since Oct. 25 last year. Container freight rates have increased in 11 weeks this year but fallen in 29 weeks. Nils Smedegaard Andersen, chief executive of A.P. Moller-Maersk which controls the world's biggest container shipping company, has warned that the industry will have to get used to gradually declining rates.

Shipping freight rates for transporting containers from ports in Asia to Northern Europe jumped 21 percent to $1,455 per 20-foot container (TEU) in the week ended on Friday, a source with access to data from the Shanghai Containerized Freight Index told Reuters. It was the first time rates on the world's busiest route rose since July 4, when they jumped 28 percent. Container freight rates have so far increased in 10 weeks this year but fallen in 21 weeks. Average rates for 2014 on the routes are $1,278 per TEU compared with $1,090 last year. Rates for the U.S.

Reportedly, shipping freight rates for transporting containers from ports in Asia to Northern Europe fell by 5.5 percent to $1,230 per 20-foot container (TEU) in the week ended on Friday, a source with access to data from the Shanghai Containerized Freight Index told Reuters. It was the second consecutive week of falling freight rates on the world's busiest route. Container freight rates have so far increased in nine weeks this year but fallen in 20 weeks. Average rates for 2014 are $1,275 per TEU compared with $1,090 last year. The comprehensive index fell 1.8 percent to $1,080 per TEU. Maersk Line, the global market leader with nearly 600 container vessels and part of Danish oil and shipping group A.P.

The Keppel Corporation released its limited unaudited results for the first quarter ending March31, 2014, reporting a 5% decrease in net profits to S$339 million compared to Q1 2013's S$357 million, though the company attributed the decline to one-off gains from the reversal of provision from the sale of a power barge and write-back of tax provision made by Keppel Land in Q1 2013. Earnings per share also fell, now 18.7 cents, down 6% from 1Q 2013's 19.8 cents, while economic value added decreased from S$217 million to S$151 million.

Shares rise 4.6 percent to top TecDAX. German wind turbine maker Nordex on Friday said it had swung to an operating profit last year, boosted by stronger demand in its core European market as well as cost cuts after shutting down production in China and the United States. Nordex said its earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) reached 44.3 million euros ($60.6 million) in 2013, up from a loss of 61.1 million euros in 2012. Sales grew a third to 1.429 billion euros, the group said. Analysts had, on average, expected an EBIT of 46.9 million euros on sales of 1.417 billion. "We were able to achieve our planned turnaround in 2013. It is now very important to ensure that this success is made permanent and…

According to a report from Ebeling Heffernan, China Shipbuilding Industry Co. (CSIC), the country’s northern shipbuilding giant, said its net profit last year rose 7.28% to about $246b. Due to a recovery in the Global shipbuilding market and a rise in orders, shipbuilding business has increased business 38.17% from the same period last year, it said.   (SourceL Ebeling Heffernan)

Latvia's government officially admitted defeat on Tuesday in its fourth attempt to sell sea cargo firm Latvian Shipping, ordering the economy ministry to draw up a new tender to sell the firm. "The government decided to stop the Latvian Shipping privatization process based on the current rules and asked the economy ministry to prepare new guidelines within two weeks in order to continue," Economy Minister Aigars Kalvitis said. Privatization officials were sent back to the drawing board last month after the two finalists selected by the government failed to submit a bid bond to take part in an auction for a 68 percent stake, which had been set for May 11.

Hyundai Merchant Marine, South Korea's largest shipping firm, said on Friday it had sold about two million shares in Hyundai Heavy Industries to raise operating funds and repay debts. "We sold about two million shares in Hyundai Heavy in the market," said a company spokesman. He did not say at what price the shares were sold. The shipping firm would have received 62 billion won ($47.6 million) from the sale, based on Hyundai Heavy's closing price of 31,000 won on Friday. Hyundai Merchant Marine shares finished up 0.3 percent at 3,000 won. After the stock sale, Hyundai Merchant Marine would become the second largest shareholder in the shipbuilder with its stake dropping to 9.8 percent from 12.4 percent earlier.