Scorpio Bulkers' results have fallen into the red amid the coronavirus' unprecedented disruption to dry bulk shipping and the global economy.
The Emanuele Lauro-led owner of ultramax and kamsarmax bulkers reported a net loss of $45.1m versus a net profit of $35m for the same period last year.
The negative result included a $13.9m hit tied to Scorpio Bulkers' $100m equity investment in sister company Scorpio Tankers.
In May, Scorpio Bulkers sold 2.25m shares of Scorpio Tankers for about $42.7m, leaving it with about 2.16m Scorpio Tankers shares.
On an adjusted basis, the New York-listed company recorded a $44.7m deficit, compared with $40.1m in earnings a year ago.
Adjusted loss per share came in at $5.68 in contrast to adjusted earnings per share of $5.79 for the same three-month period in 2019. The company missed analyst consensus of a $3.59 loss per share.
Scorpio Bulkers was still able to set aside some money for stakeholders, issuing a $0.05 dividend for the quarter.
Revenue for the second quarter was $26.2m, compared with $50.7m for the same period in 2019.
Covid-19 disruption
Scorpio Bulkers attributed the much lower revenue to the pandemic that forced countries to shut down manufacturing to an extent that negatively impacted the need to carry raw materials by sea.
"When these measures and the resulting economic impact will end and what the long-term impact of such measures on the global economy will be are not known at this time," the company said in a statement.
"As a result, the extent to which Covid-19 will materially impact the company’s results of operations and financial condition will depend on future developments, which are highly uncertain and cannot be predicted."
While reporting earnings on Thursday, Scorpio Bulkers announced plans to invest up to $290m in wind-turbine installation ships after signing a letter of intent (LOI) with Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering, as reported by TradeWinds.
“We embark on a new journey with this LOI and are pleased to be joining the legions who support renewable energy in concept, and more importantly, in practice," chief executive Lauro said.
Scorpio Bulkers' shares, which trade on the Nasdaq stock market under the ticker symbol SALT, gained $0.01 on Monday to close at $14.67.
They have gone up another $0.03 within the first half-hour of after-hours trading.
