Bruce Barnard, Special Correspondent | Aug 16, 2012 9:52AM EDT
Dockwise swung to a $8 million net loss in the second quarter from a $9 million profit in the previous three months, but the Dutch heavy-lift operator boosted its order backlog for the sixth successive quarter.
Revenue fell to $97 million in the three months to June 30 from $120 million in the opening quarter while the order backlog grew to $623 million excluding options on contracts from $587 million.
Oslo-listed Dockwise said its $90 million acquisition of Norwegian rival Fairstar Heavy Transport in the second quarter boosted its fleet by four ships with a fifth under commission and increased the total order backlog to $810 million.
“Dockwise looks ahead with optimism on all fronts. The Fairstar acquisition, which accelerates several strategic objectives, has been decisively concluded on good economic terms for our shareholders,” said Andre Goedee, CEO of Dockwise.
The company’s fleet of 22 vessels – with three more on order – “gives us considerable flexibility both to reshape the overall fleet to suit evolving client needs and to remove redundant tonnage from the market,” he said.
Dockwise is due to take delivery of a $240 million vessel with a 100,000 tons lift capacity in the final quarter of 2012.
Contact Bruce Barnard at brucebarnard47@hotmail.com.
