LNG News Editor:
MISC Group, the Malaysian shipping and engineering company with 32 LNG carriers in its operations and six ethane carriers, posted an increase in annual revenues and LNG shipping earnings rose.
Annual revenues for the whole group amounted to 10.67 billion Malaysian ringgit ($2.54Bln) compared with 9.40Bln ringgit ($2.24Bln) in 2020.
Four units
MISC has four divisions, including LNG and ethane shipping, the petroleum and products fleet, the offshore business and marine and heavy engineering.
The company’s fourth-quarter revenues came to 3.08Bln ringgit ($736M) versus 2.64Bln ringgit (630M).
In LNG and gas shipping MISC revenues increased by 8.7 percent to 2.88Bln ringgit ($688 million) from 2.65Bln ringgit ($633M), attributed to the delivery of five Very Large Ethane Carriers (VLECs) since the fourth quarter of 2020.
LNG and gas operating profits rose by 5 percent to 1.25Bln ringgit ($298M) versus 1.91Bln ringgit ($284M) previously.
Overall annual profits for the four divisions slipped to 1.95Bln ringgit ($465M) compared with 2.02Bln ringgit ($482M) in 2020.
“In the LNG shipping market, spot rates jumped to a record high in the fourth quarter of 2021 on strong winter demand for LNG in Asia and Europe, amidst shortages and elevated prices of natural gas,” said MISC.
“Spot charter rates were also driven by tight vessel availability, exacerbated by increased shipping distances as US LNG supply was pulled into the Far East, as well as congestion at the Panama Canal,” added the Kuala Lumpur-based company.
“Although spot rates have since eased moving into 2022, the medium-term outlook for LNG shipping remains favourable as reflected by the record number of new LNG carriers ordered in 2021,” stated MISC.
The company, which also has a chartered LNG bunkering vessel, said its operating income in the Gas Assets shipping division continues to be stable, supported by its existing portfolio of long-term charters.
“The petroleum shipping market was challenged by low freight rates although there were some modest improvement in the fourth quarter of 2021,” said MISC.
“Despite continuing oil demand recovery and easing of production cuts by OPEC+ in 2021, seaborne trading volumes have remained below pre-pandemic levels, while the tanker fleet has continued to grow, albeit slowly,” added the company.
MISC has an oil taker fleet of 69 vessels of various capacities, including 25 Aframax tankers, eight very large crude carriers, six Suezmax vessels and various classes of products and chemical carriers as well as shuttle tankers.
“There were higher freight rates in the Aframax segment and higher earning days for Dynamic Positioning Shuttle Tankers,” said MISC.
Tanker profit
The Petroleum and Product Shipping unite recorded a small operating profit compared with a previous loss.
MISC believes the tanker market fundamentals will improve further in 2022, especially towards the second half.
“Given the uncertain landscape, the Petroleum Shipping segment will continue to focus on building long-term secured income through its niche shuttle tanker business and rejuvenation of its fleet with eco-friendly tankers,” it added.
