Rickmers – BT

Rickmers posts US$54.6m Q3 loss after compensation hit

RICKMERS Maritime posted a net loss of US$54.6 million for its third quarter ended Sept 30, 2010, against a net profit of US$9.2 million for the corresponding period a year ago.

The blow to the trust’s bottom line was dealt by a US$64 million payment of compensation to Polaris Shipmanagement Company Limited for not taking delivery of seven vessels.

Excluding the one-off payment, profit from operations would have been US$9.4 million for the quarter.

Its income available for distribution for its third quarter slipped 4 per cent, from US$19.2 million to US$18.3 million.

It also posted a 4 per cent dip in charter revenue, from US$38.1 million to US$36.7 million, today.

Rickmers kept its distribution per unit (DPU) at 0.57 US cents, unchanged from its previous three quarters, representing a payout of 13 per cent of income available for distribution.

Year-to-date, the trust posted a 7 per cent drop in income available for distribution, to US$54 million.

Revenue for the same period rose 2 per cent to US$110.2 million.

It recorded a net loss of US$48.5 million for the period, against a net profit of US$25.5 million a year ago.

The trust’s fleet of 16 container ships saw a 99.63 per fleet utilisation rate for the quarter.

The remaining committed charter revenue as at Sept 30 stood at US$785 million.

‘The container market has experienced a real bull run this year, but the peak period has come to an end. We do expect to see a softening of charter rates in the coming months,’ said Thomas Preben Hansen, chief executive officer of Rickmers Trust Management, the trust’s trustee manager.