[080912.EN.SEA] CSAV First Half Loss Up To US$345 Million, But Result Better Than 2011

COMPANIA Sud Americana de Vapores (CSAV) has posted a net loss of US$345 million for the first six months of 2012, including losses of $102 million from discontinued operations and $57 million for provisions in the second half.

The discontinued operations relate to the operational, financial and corporate restructuring that CSAV began implementing in the second half of last year.

The company said in a release that the total second quarter loss amounted to $140.2 million, 60.3 per cent less than in the second quarter of 2011 and 31.7 per cent less than in the first quarter of this year.

Commenting on the results, the company's chief executive Oscar Hasbun said the results have been improving each month and the improvement trend will continue during the third quarter.

Mr Hasbun said rises in freight rates over recent months will be reflected in the results for the following quarters as the "company's accounting shows the results with a greater time lag than the rest of the industry". He added that first quarter results did not reflect the signs of market improvement that are evident now.

Operating margins continued to be negative. But the company managed to reduce the operating loss in the second quarter to US$62 million, 64.8 per cent down from an operating loss of $175 million in the first quarter, and 83.2 per cent lower than in the second quarter of 2011 when the loss was $381.4 million.

CSAV's cumulative losses have reached $2.08 billion since 2009 and the company was forced to raise $2.7 billion through multiple series of capital injections since July 2009, said media reports.

The company has already cut its total operating capacity from a peak of 588,000 TEU in March 2011 to 260,000 TEU at present. Its global capacity ranking has dropped from 7th to 20th place over the last 18 months.

Source : HKSG.