Friday, liquefied natural gas shipping company Golar LNG Ltd (GLNG), reported a rise in profit for the second quarter, reflecting a gain from other financial items relating to non-cash interest rate and equity swap valuation, even as revenues declined from last year.
The Hamilton, Bermuda-based company's net income for the second quarter increased to $11.90 million or $0.18 per basic share from $11.70 million or $0.17 per basic share last year.
On average, two analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report a loss of $0.10 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimate typically exclude one-time charges and gains.
Quarterly operating revenues declined to $46.82 million from $52.50 million in the previous-year quarter. Analysts had a consensus revenue estimate of $46.86 million for the quarter.
Average utilization for the quarter decreased to 69% from 78% in the corresponding quarter last year.
Total operating expenses for the quarter decreased to $44.88 million from $45.13 million in the same quarter last year. Interest expense for the quarter was $14.61 million, compared to $25.00 million in the year-ago quarter. Other financial items were a gain of $24.8 million, compared to a gain of $19.5 million in the year-ago period, primarily due to increased gains in respect of mark-to-market gains on equity swaps.
Operating income for the quarter dropped sharply to $2.00 million from $7.34 million in the year-ago quarter.
For the six-month period, the company reported a profit of $6.80 million or $0.10 per basic share, compared to a net loss of $4.00 million or $0.06 per basic share last year. Operating revenues for the period decreased to $100.70 million from $111.24 million in the same period last year.
Looking ahead to the third quarter of fiscal year 2009, Golar said while the short-term LNG shipping sector has been depressed during the first half of 2009, there are discernable signs of improvement and the overall outlook for the LNG sector looks positive.
The company noted that the results for the third quarter will be influenced by a termination of the equity swap in respect of Arrow Energy realising income of nearly $9 million, of which about $7.8 million will be booked as income in the third quarter of 2009.
GLNG closed Thursday's trading at $10.27 on the Nasdaq.
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