Bulk shipper Wisdom Marine Group (慧洋海運集團) yesterday said it has made forays into transporting petrochemical products by securing an eight-year contract with a Swiss natural gas company.
The company plans to use a 6,400-tonne liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) carrier to execute the contract, which will yield a gross margin of about 30 percent, Wisdom Marine chairman James Lan (藍俊昇) told a shareholders’ meeting.
While Lan said he is not expecting a marked recovery in the sector this year, the company is planning to launch a ship-leasing business in the second half of this year amid the persisting downturn.
Lan did not elaborate on the leasing business, but said that the ideal fleet for the company is between 100 and 120 vessels. Wisdom is to receive 28 new vessels from this year to 2018 as it continues to upgrade its fleet, Lan said, adding that six handysize ships older than 10 years are to be retired this year.
In the first four months of this year, the firm reported pre-tax profit of NT$898 million, up 6.01 percent from a year earlier, while sales dipped 0.91 percent to NT$3.6 billion.
Shareholders yesterday approved plans to distribute a cash dividend of NT$2.5 per share, based on the company’s performance last year, which saw net income rise 27.05 percent annually to NT$2.25 billion (US$69.16 million).
Meanwhile, a supply glut of freight capacity and falling rates have continued to torment shippers in the cargo sector, with a recovery likely delayed as companies continue to form new alliances to compete with each other rather than pursuing an industrial consolidation, HSBC Global Research researchers said in a note last week.
Near-term outlook remains challenging as fuel prices have began increasing, which will put further pressure on earnings if the uptrend persists, HSBC researcher Parash Jain (簡恩) said.
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