Sovcomflot ups profit 36% to $45.4 mln in Q1
MOSCOW. June 8. (Interfax) - OJSC Sovcomflot boosted its net profit to International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) 36.3% to $45.4 million in the first quarter of 2012, the company said in a statement.
Revenue climbed 14.4% to $394.9 million, and earnings before taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) grew 16.4% to $144.9 million.
Time Charter Equivalent revenues grew 11.7% to $230.6 million in the first quarter, 41% of which came from oil shipments, 26% of which were petroleum product shipments, 19% of which were from shelf field servicing and about 9% of which were gas shipments.
"Despite some limited revival in the global tanker market at the beginning of 2012, tanker owners are still experiencing challenging times. It is way too early to talk about recovery from this period of long-term market depression. During the first quarter of 2012, freight rates were at historical lows and the market saw an over-supply of new-buildings. In the first quarter freight rates remained at historic low levels due to a continued tanker supply/demand imbalance. Despite this background, the Group has proven to be resilient, which has demonstrated the ongoing viability of its business-model," Sovcomflot's President and CEO Sergei Frank is quoted as saying in the statement.
Time Charter Equivalent represents shipping revenues less voyage expenses and is commonly used in the shipping industry to measure financial performance and to compare revenue generated from a voyage charter to revenue generated from a time charter.
Sovcomflot is Russia's largest shipping company, specializing in oil, petroleum products and liquefied gas handling. It is also one of the world's largest tanker fleet operators. The Russian government owns 100% of its stock. Sovcomflot owns 158 ships with a combined deadweight of 12 million tonnes.