KUCHING: Hubline Bhd expects its dry bulk shipping business to remain encouraging and its aviation business to continue perform well in the final quarter of the financial year ending Sept 30, 2022 (Q42022).
This is despite the downward pressure on shipping freight rates, the company said in releasing its latest quarterly results, which saw improvement from a year ago.
In Q3 to June 30, 2022, Hubline returned to profitability, with group net profit of RM3 million from loss of RM205,000 in Q32021 in line with higher revenue of RM59.7 million against RM40.5 million previously or an increase of RM19.2 million.
Earnings per share was 0.07sen from losses per share of 0.01sen previously.
In the current quarter under review, the dry bulk shipping segment reported an increase of revenue by RM16.1 million to RM42.2 million, thanks to a significant increase in freight rates.
“The increase in revenue is despite the number of shipments completed in the current year quarter being lower when compared to the same quarter of the preceding year due to more dockings for maintenance works in the current year quarter,” Hubline said in explanatory notes to its financial results.
The aviation segment contributed about RM17.5 million to group revenue in the current quarter, up RM3.2 million from Q32021,as a result of increased demand for aircraft chartering as well as commencement of contracts secured recently.
Hubline said the group operating profit grew to about RM11 million from RM6.14 million in Q32021 due to effective management of volatile shipping freight rates as well as execution of aviation contracts at better margins.
In the immediate preceding quarter (Q22022), Hubline recorded operating profit of RM8.97 million on revenue of RM46.8 million.
During the January-September 2022 period (9m2022), Hubline posted lower group net profit of RM9.4 million against RM12.7 million in 9m2021 despite a sharp increase in revenue to RM174.8 million from RM110.4 million previously.
In 9m2022, despite the group posted higher pre-tax profit of RM20.6 million (9m2021:RM17.1 million), its net profit was affected by losses incurred by certain subsidiaries within the group.
Commenting on prospects for Q42022, Hubline said: “The group’s dry bulk shipping segment performance is expected to remain encouraging for the next quarter despite downward pressure on shipping freight rates.
“The group will strive to continuously maximise our fleet in the current favourable climate. The group expects its current performance to remain satisfactory for the rest of the financial year 2022.
“For the aviation segment, we remain cautiously optimistic that this business segment will continue to perform well. The group will continue to participate in bidding for new aviation contracts.
“The flying academy continues to face challenges as student intake remains low as a result of the impact of COVID-19,” added the company.
