November 11 - Rickmers Group generated consolidated revenues of EUR373.6 million (USD406.1 million) in the first nine months of 2016 - a 15 percent decline compared with the same period of 2015.
Rickmers Group said that this fall is "due mainly to the persistently strained market situation through the expiry of further high-margin charter contracts, temporary fleet idleness and follow-on charters at current low market rates".
Furthermore, added the shipping company, "lower revenues from freight and a stronger fall in capacity utilisation in the project cargo area also had a negative impact".
As a consequence of the revenue decline, EBITDA fell by 31.1 percent year-on-year to EUR136.8 million (USD148.7 million) during the reporting period.
The Rickmers-Linie segment posted revenues of EUR102 million in the first nine months of the year, compared with EUR131 million in the same period of 2015. The business unit reported EBITDA of EUR -7.2 million, compared with EUR2 million last year.
Rickmers has already begun a number of measures to strengthen its financial position in light of the challenging conditions in the shipping industry, including the restructuring of financing for some of its vessels and the sale of shares in its group company Rickmers Trust Management. The company said that "additional courses of action are being reviewed on a continuous basis".
In conclusion, Rickmers stated that it sees no signs of a recovery in the general economic conditions for the final quarter of the year, and this will also be reflected in the development of charter and freight rates, which will probably remain at a low level. As a result, the company anticipates its 2016 operating result to be "considerable below" that of the 2015 financial year.
