MMHE's Q1 net loss widens to RM25.3m

PETALING JAYA: Malaysia Marine Heavy Engineering Holdings Bhd (MMHE) saw its net loss for the financial quarter ended March 31, 2018 widen to RM25.3 million on the completion or sailway of projects for the heavy engineering segment, and lesser repair works for the marine business.
The group posted a net loss of RM16.6 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2017.

This was on 20% lower revenue of RM188.3 million, compared with RM235.8 million for the same quarter in 2017.
MMHE said even though there are early signs of a pick up of upstream and offshore activities which will lead to a recovery in oil and gas spending in the coming years, it is unlikely to translate into immediate opportunities in 2018.
The heavy engineering segment continues to suffer from scarcity of new contracts and accordingly, performance in 2018 is
expected to remain under pressure.
Meanwhile, the marine segment encountered headwinds as ship owners deferred their dry docking activities, in reaction to
uncertainty in the enforcement of new regulations in the shipping industry.
Correspondingly, performance of the marine business was impacted during this quarter. Performance in the second half is expected to improve, benefiting from the deferral of some dry docking activities into this period.
The group said it is committed to its strategy of expanding into new business segments, in oil and gas services, to ensure sustainability of income. Replenishment of order book for both marine and heavy engineering segments remains a top priority.
The stock closed unchanged at 81 sen with some 139,900 shares changing hands.