Sovcomflot, Russia’s largest shipping company, saw 2011 net profit plummet 67.3 percent year-on-year to $53.7 million to IFRS, the firm said in a statement on Thursday.
The company’s revenue increased 9.6 percent last year to $1.439 billion, while its Earnings Before Interest, Taxation, Depreciation, Amortization (EBITDA) fell 13.6 percent to $460.8 million.
Sovcomflot’s time-charter equivalent amounted to $927.3 million, a 1.4 percent decrease year-on-year.
“Year of 2011 has been one of the toughest years for the shipping industry for decades. Given consensus forecasts of future conditions in the freight market, we do not expect significant improvements for the tanker industry in 2012,” Sovcomflot General Director Sergei Frank was quoted in the statement as saying.
“Rates in the spot market and time-charter rates will remain under pressure, as a result of the imbalance between supply and demand. The market value of tankers looks set to remain at historic lows,” he added.
The company was included in a $33-billion privatization plan for 2011-2013, which stipulated the sale of shares in the country’s top 10 companies. The government intends to privatize 50 percent minus one share of the company.
Sovcomflot operated 155 vessels with a total deadweight of 11.5 million tons as of December 31, 2011.