Bruce Barnard, Special Correspondent | May 28, 2012 10:25AM EDT
Eimskip, the Iceland-based container shipping and refrigerated logistics group, reported operating profit almost halved in the first quarter from a year earlier as higher costs and one-time items outweighed a nearly 10 percent increase in ocean container traffic.
The company earned 6.8 million euros ($8.5 million) before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization in the three months to March 31, down from 12.9 million euros ($16.1 million) in the same period in 2011.
The results were skewed by the collection of an outstanding claim of $8 million in the first quarter of 2011 that has been fully written off.
Revenue grew to $117 million from $112.8 million. Net profit slumped to $750,000 from $7.3 million.
Eimskip said liner shipping volume grew 9.7 percent, but it did not give figures. There were slow improvements in volume to and from Iceland but this was offset by higher costs, particularly salaries and fuel.
Operations in other regions and markets, including the North Atlantic and worldwide reefer logistics, performed strongly.
The company acquired three reefer ships in February and began operations in Thailand. Eimskip, which operates 17 ships and employs approximately 1,300 people, plans to list its shares on NASDAQ OMX Iceland exchange in the fourth quarter of the year.
Contact Bruce Barnard at brucebarnard47@hotmail.com.
