Higher Rates Push Bahri’s Profit Up

National Shipping Company of Saudi Arabia (Bahri) delivered a stronger net profit in the third quarter of 2018, driven by higher spot market rates.

Net profit after tax stood at SAR 81.2 million, surging by 34.3 percent from SAR 60.5 million reported in the same quarter in 2017, mainly attributed to an increase in the company’s fleet and higher spot market rates specifically in oil transportation.

During the quarter, Bahri’s revenue reached SAR 1.39 billion, compared to a revenue of SAR 1.28 billion seen a year earlier, representing an increase of 8.5 percent.

However, at a quarterly level, lower spot market rates and an increase of bunker cost affected the company’s net profit which more than halved in the third quarter when compared to SAR 185.4 million witnessed in the second quarter of 2018. The company’s revenue was also down by 6.8 percent from SAR 1.49 billion for the same period.

For the nine-month period ended September 30, 2018, Bahri’s net profit plunged by 34.2 percent to SAR 389.8 million, compared to SAR 593.2 million reported in the first nine months of 2017.

Revenues for the period were down by 5.7 percent to SAR 4.34 billion, against a revenue of SAR 4.61 billion seen a year earlier.