Cosco's net profit crashed 82% to $4.25m in Q1

Due to headwinds in dry bulk shipping and shipbuilding.

Cosco reported that its net profit crashed 82% to $4.25m in the first quarter due to lower profit contributions from dry bulk shipping and shipyard operations.

Interest expense increased by 40.6% to $38.8m in the quarter due to higher bank borrowings to fund shipyard operations.

Net profit attributable to equity holders of the company decreased 93.9% to $0.8 million in the first quarter from $12.6m in Q1 2014.

Turnover from shipyard operations decreased by 4.7% to $980.8 million from $1.03 billion in Q1 2014, owing to lower revenue contribution from marine engineering and ship repair partially offset by an increase in revenue from ship building.

Turnover from dry bulk shipping and other businesses decreased 11.9% from $11.8 million in Q1 2014 to $10.4 million in Q1 2015 as the current short-term charter rates were lower than the more favorable charter rates received in Q1 2014.