UPBEAT OUTLOOK:
Wisdom Marine LInes said it has to adjust contracts for 60 vessels, and expects shipping rates in the new contracts to rise by 25%
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By Kao Shih-ching / Staff reporter
Dry bulk shipper Wisdom Marine Lines Co (慧洋海運) yesterday reported pretax profit of NT$1.1 billion (US$39.82 million) for last month and a record profit of NT$8.28 billion for the whole of last year, thanks to soaring freight rates.
Pretax earnings per share last year were NT$11.09, it said.
Wisdom said that it continues to have an upbeat outlook for this year, as it has to adjust the contracts of 60 vessels this year and expects shipping rates in the new contracts to increase by 25 percent, it said in a statement.
The average rates for all contracts last year advanced by about 70 percent, the largest increase in five years, it added.
To help expand capacity to meet customer demand, Wisdom expects the delivery of three new handysize vessels, or smaller bulk carriers, and three new Panamax vessels this year, it said.
The Baltic Dry Index, which tracks the shipping rates of all types of ships, last month edged even lower to 2,217 points, compared with a peak of 5,000 points in October, as the Christmas holiday and China’s restriction on steel production curbed shipping demand, the company said.
As the rates for small and medium-sized vessels are more stable than those for large-sized vessels, and more than half of Wisdom’s ships are small and medium-sized vessels, the effect from falling rates was limited, with revenue growing 1 percent month-on-month to NT$2.06 billion last month.
For the whole of last year, revenue rose 60 percent to NT$19.1 billion from a year earler and pretax profit increased 65 times to NT$8.28 billion, up from NT$127 million in 2020, due to better control of operational costs, it said.
The International Maritime Organization is to implement stricter energy efficiency regulations next year, which is expected to affect about 80 percent of all vessels, but Wisdom said that it should outperform its peers, as its vessels are more efficient.
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