Braemar Shipping Fighting The Waves
Braemar Shipping Services PLC reported a sharp decline in pretax profit for the first half of its financial year on Tuesday, hit by difficult conditions in a number of its key end markets, reports Alliance News.
In August, Braemar warned its results for the year to the end of February 2017 will be "materially lower" than the prior year, with softer activity levels and freight rates amid a "marked slowdown" in the tanker segment dragging on its shipbroking revenue.
The group's Technical division has also taken a hit from the weak oil and gas market and the group will now cut costs to shore up its position.
According to a press release issued by the company, the interim dividend remains unchanged at 9.0p per share. Revenue in the first half was £70.2 million (interim 2015/16: £79.6 million).
David Moorhouse CBE, Chairman of Braemar, commenting on the results and the outlook said: “Braemar’s divisions have worked hard in the challenging markets that we face and our senior management teams are taking difficult actions where needed to restructure our businesses to address this economic climate.”
He added: “The Board is confident in our long term strategy to grow the business through both organic and acquisitive business development. The Board expects the underlying financial performance, excluding restructuring costs of the Group, for the full year to be in line with current market expectations following the actions we are taking to make structural changes within the Group.”
