Shipping Corporation of India Ltd (SCI) and The Great Eastern Shipping Co Ltd, India’s top two fleet owners, posted losses during the July-September quarter, hammered by a falling rupee despite higher operational income.
State-run SCI’s second quarter loss – announced on Saturday- widened to ₹142.53 crore from ₹76.18 crore a year earlier. The company has posted a loss of ₹205.98 crore in the first quarter of FY19, taking the combined loss in the first half of FY19 to ₹348.51 crore from ₹82.90 crore in FY18.
Operationally, India’s biggest ocean carrier fared better by posting an operating income of ₹939.81 crore in the second quarter from ₹808.22 crore a year earlier.
But, this performance was dragged down by a foreign exchange loss of ₹184.86 crore in the July-September quarter (₹338.13 crore in H1FY19) compared to ₹14.02 crore and ₹8.8 crore respectively during Q2 and H1 of FY19.
On a consolidated level that includes its offshore unit, The Great Shipping Co posted a loss of ₹223.47 crore in the second quarter of FY19 from a net profit of ₹6.86 crore a year ago.
The Mumbai-listed firm had posted a loss of ₹245.08 crore in Q1FY19, taking the combined loss for H1FY19 to ₹468.55 crore from a net profit of ₹110.42 crore in H1FY18.
India’s biggest private ocean carrier’s operational income rose to ₹799.42 crore during the second quarter of FY19 from ₹702.43 crore in FY18.
The Great Eastern booked a forex loss of ₹221.44 crore during the second quarter of FY 19 and ₹520.54 crore during H1 FY19.
Both SCI and The Great Eastern were hit by a ₹4 depreciation in the rupee-dollar exchange rate between June 30 and September 30, 2018.
Though, it’s a non-cash item, the impact of rupee depreciation has to be shown in the profit and loss account, according to the new accounting standards.
Source: The Hindu Business Line
