Higher costs dampen MISC’s 1st quarter profit

Higher costs dampen MISC’s 1st quarter profit MISC Berhad, Malaysia's biggest shipping company, on Monday reported a pre-tax profit of RM559.4 million ($172 million) in its first quarter ended June 30, a drop of 2.6 percent, which it blamed on higher operational costs particularly in bunker, crewing costs and port charges.
   The company, a subsidiary of the state-owned petroleum company Petronas, said revenue for the quarter increased 24.9 percent to RM3.65 billion ($1.12 billion).
   “Earnings arising from existing and new long term charters in the LNG and offshore businesses continue to provide the group with stable earnings,” MISC said in a statement. “The global petroleum shipping space is experiencing short term firmness which could hold till the end of 2008. The container-shipping segment is expected to weaken further resulting from the global economic slow down and excess shipping capacity. Escalating operational costs, especially bunker on the back of current high oil prices, could adversely impact the short term performance of the group.”