Bahri’s Quarterly Profit Sinks

National Shipping Company of Saudi Arabia (Bahri) has reported a 37 percent drop in its net profit for the third quarter of 2016 to SAR 318.3 million (USD 84.8 million) from SAR 510.3 million seen in the same quarter a year earlier.

The decrease in net income is mainly attributed to an overall decrease in Spot markets rates during the current quarter compared to the corresponding quarter of 2015, the company said in a stock exchange announcement.

Other factors that influenced the net profit were the decrease in average Time Charter Equivalent (TCE) rate in crude oil transportation spot market during the current quarter compared to the corresponding quarter of 2015 and the decrease in the company share in profits of Petredec limited (30.3% owned by Bahri).

Operational profit for the quarter plunged by 57 percent from SAR 545.2 million reported in the third quarter of 2015 to SAR 230.1 million.

However, for the first nine months of the year, the company’s net profit improved by 14.6 percent and stood at SAR 1.43 billion, against SAR 1.25 billion reported in the same period of 2015. The increase in net income was mainly driven by the company’s fleet expansion, as Bahri now owns a fleet of eighty-three vessels, compared to seventy-three vessel as of September 2015.

Bahri’s operational profit for the nine-month periods also increased to SAR 1.48 billion from SAR 1.38 billion, respectively, representing a rise of 6.9 percent.

World Maritime News Staff