GC Rieber: hit by weakening UK and US currencies
Heavy weather for GC Rieber
Norwegian marine services group GC Rieber Shipping saw operating income slip as it repositioned its business amid weakening foreign currencies, but said its operations activity remained at a statisfactory level.
The company reported second quarter operating income of Nkr151 million ($28 million) from Nkr160.3 million in the same period last year.
The company saw second quarter net profits fell to Nkr45.8 million, or Nkr1.05 per diluted share, down from Nkr47.9 million, or Nkr4.17 per diluted share, in the same period last year, which included a Nkr133.2 million gain on discontinued operations. Excluding the gain, the year-ago figure would have been Nkr47.9 million.
Earnings before income-tax, debt and amortisation slipped to Nkr46.2 million from Nkr55.5 million previously.
CG Rieber reported a contract backlog of Nkr1.03 billion to the end of the past quarter.
The company blamed a weakening in the dollar and British pound for much of the fall in operating income. It acquired a 40% stake in Singapore core drilling company Bluestone Offshore in the period. It also nvested Nkr600 million in an order for four specialised offshore vessels for delivery in 2009 and 2010 and bought the 2D seismic source vessel Geo Explorer.
For the first six months of 2008 operating income slipped to Nkr263.1 million from Nkr281.1 million for the first half of 2007, and net profits fell to Nkr68.5 million, or Nkr1.57 per diluted share, from Nkr190 million, on Nkr4.37 per diluted share, over the same period.