Qatar Navigation (Milaha) has recorded a net profit of QR267mn for the first half of 2017, the company announced in a statement yesterday.
Compared to the same period last year, Milaha posted a net profit of QR553mn.
Operating revenues reached QR1.1bn compared to QR1.4bn for the same period in 2016. In the first half of the year, operating profit stood at QR170mn compared to the QR378mn recorded in the same period in 2016.
Milaha Maritime & Logistics’ net profit declined by QR46mn mainly due to continued pricing pressure in container shipping and lower profits from its ports business.
Milaha Gas & Petrochem’s net profit declined by QR96mn due to depressed rates and vessel oversupply that have impacted most of the tanker and gas carrier sectors the company operates in, in addition to lower profits from its joint venture operations.
Milaha Offshore’s net profit declined by QR30mn (excluding one-time impairments of QR45mn), driven mainly by global vessel oversupply, which in turn has continued to depress charter rates and utilisation.
Milaha Trading’s net profit marginally declined by QR1mn due to lower sales volumes of marine fuels and lubricants.
Milaha Capital’s net profit fell by QR68mn due to lower held-for-trading investment returns and an available-for-sale investment impairment from the first quarter of 2017.
“We are in the midst of an unusually prolonged global downturn across most marine sectors. However, we remain financially strong and will continue to invest prudently for the long term,” said Milaha chairman Sheikh Ali bin Jassim al-Thani.
Milaha president and CEO Abdulrahman Essa al-Mannai said, “We are actively taking steps to mitigate the impact of the current downturn from both a cost as well as revenue perspective. In this regard, we see a number of short and medium-term opportunities to position ourselves more strongly for when markets improve.”
The company said it will conduct an investor conference call on August 22 at 3pm, Doha time to further discuss its results.
Sheikh Ali and al-Mannai: Looking to invest prudently for long term.
