(May 5 2009)
Gulf Navigation Holding reported an 85% drop in its first quarter profit this year on the back of weak shipping conditions.
The company reported a Dh6.4 mill profit for 1Q09 compared with Dh44.7 mill during the same quarter a year earlier. Revenues declined to Dh81.9 mill from Dh94.8 mill for 1Q08.
Abdullah Al Shuraim, the company's chairman, said the first quarter "has been very tough and challenging". Gulf Navigation had witnessed "extraordinary conditions" in the last six months with the decline in ship chartering business, he added.
Tanker chartering rates had halved since the second quarter of last year. In addition, Denmark-based Atlas Shipping, which had four Gulf Navigation tankers on long-term charter, filed for bankruptcy last December.
The company's shares fell 1.47% to Dh0.68 on the Dubai Financial Market immediately after the announcement made on 26th April.
Al Shuraim said in a statement that he remained optimistic about business growth as the shipping market has "always been cyclical".
"We are cautiously optimistic about the outlook for the coming months, in spite of the disappointments of the last six months; we believe that we can now draw a line against the past, and we are keenly looking forward to the future," Al Shuraim said.
Source: Tanker Operator
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