Doha-based Qatar Navigation (Milaha) reported a 20.8 percent drop net profit for the first nine months of 2016.
The company, reported a net profit of QAR 759 million (Approx. US$208.4 million) for the nine months of 2016, down from the QAR 959 million (Approx. US$263.4 million) reported in the same period in 2015.
Milaha, which owns a 30 percent stake in Qatar’s LNG shipping giant Nakilat, said that its operating revenue also dropped 13.5 percent from QAR 2.3 billion (Approx. US$631.6 million) in 2015 to QAR 1.99 billion (Approx. US$ 521.7 million).
However, Milaha Gas & Petrochem’s revenue grew by 24 percent as a result of the full period impact of the investment in two LNG carriers made in the second half of 2015, the company said in a statement on Wednesday.
Commenting on the results, Abdulrahman Essa Al-Mannai , Milaha’s president and CEO said, “Shipping is experiencing some of the most difficult conditions we have seen since the financial crisis. Despite these difficulties and the drop in earnings relative to the same period last year, Milaha’s net profit margin remains a healthy 38 percent.”
Milaha has varying ownership stakes in nine LNG carriers, which are under long-term charters to Qatari gas producers and exporters.
1 Qatari Riyal = 0.274612 USD