SINGAPORE (March 1): Yangzijiang Shipbuilding, the China-based shipbuilder, reported FY18 earnings of RMB3.6 billion ($727 million), up 23% from a year ago. This comes after 4Q18 earnings rose 84% to RMB 1.25 billion from the same period a year ago.
Group’s FY18 revenue increased by 21% year-on-year to RMB23.2 billion in FY18 even though 4Q18 revenue fell 22%. In the shipbuilding segment, 46 vessels were delivered in FY18 compared to 33 vessels delivered in FY17 while core shipbuilding revenue increased by 14% y-o-y to RMB14 billion. In line with the higher volume of trading activities, trading business generated RMB7 billion of revenue in FY18, compared to RMB5.4 billion in FY17. Revenue generated by other shipbuilding related businesses such as shipping logistics & chartering and ship design services was RMB581 million in FY18, compared to RMB393 million in FY17. The increase was supported by higher charter rate and the charter income from the vessels owned by the group’s wholly-owned subsidiary that it acquired in 2018.
The group’s financial investment portfolio increased to RMB14.8 billion as at Dec 31 2018. Interest income received was RMB1.55 billion in FY18, compared to RMB1.08 billion in FY17.
Gross profit margin for core Shipbuilding business remained at 18% for FY18, slightly higher than that of FY17. Gross profit margin at group level increased from 17% in FY17 to 19% in FY18.
As at Dec 31 2018, Yangzijiang’s outstanding order book stood at US$3.9 billion ($5.3 billion).
In its outlook, Yangzijiang sees some improvement in the fundamentals in the shipping and shipbuilding market in 2019 despite the uncertainties associated with global economic growth and the trade tensions between US and China.
“While global demand for container shipping is expected to remain stable and demand for seaborne dry bulk trade to grow at a faster pace in 2019, the fleet growth for both containerships and dry bulkers is expected to slow down in 2019 compared to 2018. The forthcoming IMO 2020 global sulphur cap could further limit the “active capacity” for dry bulkers due to “out of service” time for scrubber retrofits,” adds the group.
The board has proposed final dividend of 5 cents per share, representing a payout of 27%.
Shares in Yangzijiang closed 3 cents lower at $1.43 on Thursday.
