Malaysia’s MISC, a unit of Petronas, said its LNG business logged a decline in both revenue and operating profit in the first quarter but the company’s overall results improved.
The shipping firm said LNG revenue reached 687.5 million ringgit ($166.6 million) in the January-March period, down 1.5 percent when compared to the year before.
MISC attributed the decrease to the strengthening of ringgit against the US dollar.
Moreover, LNG operating profit also dropped 16.8 percent to 300.9 million ringgit ($72.9), mainly due to higher vessel operating costs during the quarter, MISC said.
Operationally, the segment recorded higher earning days following deliveries of very large ethane carriers (VLEC) in the preceding and current quarter, the firm said.
Looking at the overall quarterly results, MISC reported a profit before tax of 429.8 million ringgit compared to a loss of 1.15 billion ringgit in the corresponding period.
Revenue also increased by 1.1 percent to 2.54 billion ringgit ($615.6 million) while operating profit declined 45.1 percent to 463.8 million ringgit.
The Malaysian shipping firm is one of the largest operators of LNG carriers and most of them are on long-term charters.
It operates a fleet of 29 LNG carriers and two floating storage units.