MISC Posts Huge Drop in Profit

Malaysian shipping group MISC Berhad (MISC) ended the fourth quarter of 2017 with a profit of RM 47.1 million (USD 11.99 million), down from RM 499.7 million (USD 127.2 million) recorded in the corresponding quarter a year earlier.

MISC’s 4Q 2017 revenue of RM 2.4 billion was 3.3% lower than the revenue of RM 2.5 billion. The drop was mainly due to lower value and number of vessel repairs in heavy engineering segment. Additionally, lower earning days for petroleum segment has negatively affected the revenue. However, MISC said the decrease was mitigated by the lease commencement of two new LNG vessels in January 2017 and August 2017, respectively.

The company’s profit for 2017 stood at RM 1.99 billion, down from RM 2.79 billion reported in 2016. Revenue increased to RM 10 billion in 2017 from RM 9.6 billion seen in 2016.

“2017 was a challenging year for the shipping and offshore sectors as growth opportunities were scarce while revenue was under constant pressure from weak freight rates and contract renegotiation risks,” Yee Yang Chien, MISC’s President/Group Chief Executive Officer, commented.

“However, with a steady rise in oil price over the past two years, we are looking forward to better days and a healthier level of activities for the oil and gas markets in anticipation of a potential revival in investment spending for the global energy sector… We are in a strong position to sustain our momentum and create opportunities for growth,” he added.