CMB’S earnings down for 9 months
Belgian shipping CMB, whose main business activity is its dry bulk operation Bocimar, made a profit of euros120.4m (US$153.0m) in the first nine months of the year, down from euros140.1m in the same period last year. But Bocimar showed an improvement in Q3, contributing euros48m to the group’s profit, up from euros47m in Q3, 2005.
Bocimar’s result takes into account a capital gain of US$17m realised on the sale of the73,546 dwt newbuilding Yasmine Venture and the 1996-built 165,693 dwt Mineral Oak. Both vessels were jointly owned, with Wah Kwong and Oak Maritime respectively. The result is also positively influenced by a capital gain of US$22m realised on the transfer of two time charter contracts.
The company says prospects for the fourth quarter remain good with the fleet almost fully covered for the remainder of the year. It notes: “The freight markets remain very strong, which combined with a reduced availability of yard capacity until 2009, have already pushed newbuilding prices and second-hand values of bulk vessels up by 10 to 15% since the beginning of the year.”
