Malaysian maritime giant MISC said its pre-tax financial loss of of 123.6 million ringgit (US$30.5 million) in the full year for 2020 was due mainly to 1.8 billion ringgit of costs related to the arbitration proceedings against Shell for the Gumusut-Kakap floating production system.
The company said the pre-tax loss compared to a profit before tax of 1.5 billion ringgit in 2019.
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The 2020 loss was due mainly due to the recognition of a provision for litigation claims amounting to 1 billion ringgit, as well as a write-off of trade receivables and loss on re-measurement of finance lease receivables of 846.2 million ringgit following the adverse decision by the Arbitration Tribunal.
Excluding the impact of the arbitration decision, the company would have recorded a profit before tax of 1.8 billion which would have been 17.2% higher than the 2019 pre-tax profit.
Revenue for 2020 was 9.4 billion ringgit, up 4.9% on the previous year.
Operating profit for 2020 was 2 billion ringgit, which was 4.6% higher than 2019.
MISC chief executive Yee Yang Chien said: “2020 was a year like no other for many industries and will forever be remembered as a year of uncertainties and disruptions brought about by the Covid-19 global pandemic."
Achievements in 2020 included "an impactful entry into the fourth quarter which began with the successfully delivery of our first very large ethane carrier (VLEC) marking our official entry into the niche global ethane market".
The year was given a good close with the first condensate received by FSO Golden Star in Vietnam and the extension of the FPSO Espirito Santo lease contract in Brazil.
"My utmost appreciation to everyone at sea and shore for these landmark achievements during this unprecedented time," he added.
MISC has four large business segments - LNG shipping, petroleum shipping, offshore and oil and gas heavy engineering through its subsidiary Malaysia Marine and Heavy Engineering.
“As we continue to battle the Covid-19 pandemic in 2021, we will remain firm in our strict safety protocols with no compromise at all across the geographies that we operate in as the health and wellbeing of our global workforce at sea and shore remain as our top priority,” said Yee.
