MISC Bhd, the shipping arm of the state oil firm Petronas, reported a more than four-fold rise in second quarter earnings, boosted by its shipping as well as heavy engineering businesses.
The company, one of the world’s largest operators of liquefied natural gas tankers, has been benefiting as tanker and container rates started picking up after hitting record lows during the peak of the global slowdown.
“We expect improvement in freight rates from last year’s depressed levels,” the company said in a statement.
However, it warned that the competitive landscape in the shipping industry remained challenging and rates could be volatile in the short term.
MISC’s net profit rose to 369.62 million ringgit for the July-September quarter from 82.06 million ringgit a year earlier.
In the first half of the year, the company’s profits accounted for 47 percent of analysts’ expectation of 1.71 billion ringgit for the year.
Analysts usually do not have quarterly projection for Malaysian companies.
Last month, MISC sold a quarter of its stake in its ship building unit Marine and Heavy Engineering in an IPO. MISC raised about 1.05 billion Malaysian ringgit ($337 million) from the offering.
Analysts are almost equally divided in their recommendations on the stock — six of them rate it “buy” or “strong buy”, seven have a “hold” rating and another seven have a “sell” or “strong sell” rating.
MISC shares have risen about 6 percent this year, trailing a 17 percent rise in the broader markets .
The company, one of the world’s largest operators of liquefied natural gas tankers, has been benefiting as tanker and container rates started picking up after hitting record lows during the peak of the global slowdown.
“We expect improvement in freight rates from last year’s depressed levels,” the company said in a statement.
However, it warned that the competitive landscape in the shipping industry remained challenging and rates could be volatile in the short term.
MISC’s net profit rose to 369.62 million ringgit for the July-September quarter from 82.06 million ringgit a year earlier.
In the first half of the year, the company’s profits accounted for 47 percent of analysts’ expectation of 1.71 billion ringgit for the year.
Analysts usually do not have quarterly projection for Malaysian companies.
Last month, MISC sold a quarter of its stake in its ship building unit Marine and Heavy Engineering in an IPO. MISC raised about 1.05 billion Malaysian ringgit ($337 million) from the offering.
Analysts are almost equally divided in their recommendations on the stock — six of them rate it “buy” or “strong buy”, seven have a “hold” rating and another seven have a “sell” or “strong sell” rating.
MISC shares have risen about 6 percent this year, trailing a 17 percent rise in the broader markets .