Thursday, August 13, 2009
Bulker losses continue for Courage Marine
Singapore: Listed drybulk operator Courage Marine is in the red for the second quarter of this year making two consecutive quarters of losses. Revenue fell 79% to $6.1m compared to last year’s second quarter $28.5m.
A steep drop in rates coupled with lower utilisation of its eight-strong fleet of ageing bulkers accounted for the fall. At the net level the company lost $0.86m to take first half losses to $1.4m on turnover down 78% to $11.1m. Last year’s first half saw net profits of $30.3m on revenues of $50m. The company did manage to reduce costs by 40% in the second quarter cushioning the steep decline in revenues to an extent. No interim dividend is to be paid.
The company said it remained cautious on the outlook for the rest of this year, expecting the financial performance to continue to be “adversely affected by the current challenging economic conditions and uncertain outlook”. Courage operates five handymaxes and three panamaxes with an average age around 26 years. [12/08/09]
