LEIF HOEGH REPORTS FALL IN 3RD QUARTER PROFIT

   Leif Hoegh & Co., the highly profitable Norwegian shipping group, reported a fall in profits for the third quarter and a net loss for the first nine months of the year.
    Group net profit for the third quarter was NOK73 million ($9 million), down 33 percent on the NOK109 million profit reported in the same quarter last year. Operating profit for the quarter was NOK72 million ($9 million), compared to NOK135 million last year, and freight revenues were NOK948 million ($121 million), as compared to NOK926 million.
    For the first nine months, the group’s net result was a deficit of NOK37 million ($5 million), compared to a net profit of NOK327 million in the year-earlier period. Operating profit was NOK264 million ($34 million), down from NOK491 million, and freight revenues were NOK2.8 billion ($358 million), down from NOK2.9 billion in the first nine months of last year.
    Hoegh said that the decline in results was partly due to adverse markets changes, including in the car and reefer shipping sectors, and partly due to the effect of the sale of four liner vessels at the beginning of the year.