Eimskip net earnings sink 43.6% in Q2 2017

The Icelandic shipping company attributed the 43.6 percent year-over-year drop in net earnings during the quarter primarily to headwinds from currency exchange fluctuations, as revenues still rose 37.2 percent from the same quarter a year ago.    Icelandic shipping company Eimskip’s net earnings for the second quarter of 2017 sank 43.6 percent from last year’s second quarter to 4.9 million euros (U.S. $5.8 million), mainly driven down by headwinds from currency exchange fluctuations, the company said.
   Eimskip also attributed the decline to the finance expense and increased depreciation. Net finance expense for the second quarter of 2017 amounted to 2.8 million euros, compared to a net finance income of 700,000 euros for the second quarter of 2016, while depreciation and amortization reached 7.5 million euros, rising 10.1 percent.
   On a brighter note, Eimskip’s revenues for the second quarter of 2017 skyrocketed 37.2 percent year-over-year to 173.1 million euros.
   Liner services revenues totaled 117.5 million euros for the quarter, up 22.4 percent from the second quarter of 2016. Liner volumes grew 3.5 percent, mainly driven by import growth to Iceland, export from the Faroe Islands and liner services in Norway.
   Forwarding services revenues stood at 55.6 million euros for the quarter, surging 84.3 percent year-over-year, mainly due to new acquisitions, while volumes grew 39.6 percent.
   In 2017 alone, Eimskip has made various acquisitions, acquiring 80 percent of the Antwerp-based forwarding company Mareco N.V. in January; a 51 percent stake in Boston-based seller and lessor of containers, CSI Group, LLC, in March; and 75 percent of Danish freight forwarding company SHIP-LOG A/S in June.
   Eimskip also signed a contract in January with a Chinese shipyard to build two, 2,150-TEU ice class Polar Code containerships, which are scheduled for delivery in 2019, Eimskip President and CEO Gylfi Sigfússon said. The first contract payment of 11.7 million euros was submitted in May.
   Looking ahead, Sigfússon said Eimskip “continues to evaluate additional acquisition opportunities and vessel investments on an ongoing basis.”
   Eimskip operates 22 vessels – 13 owned and nine chartered – with 14 in scheduled services, three in spot services, one that is used for bulk cargo, and four that are in ferry operation, the company said.
   Eimskip has several intra-North Europe liner services, with only its Green Line sailing elsewhere, which connects Iceland and Newfoundland with the United States, deploying two vessels averaging 705 TEUs, according to ocean carrier schedule and capacity database BlueWater Reporting.