MPC Container Ships (MPCC) said on Friday that the coronavirus has caused "severe short-term effects" in its feeder trades.
The Oslo-listed boxship owner added that the outbreak has "effectively deterred further global economic recovery".
The company said the long-term implications are still uncertain and much remains to be done to respond and recover.
But it sees the second quarter as a turning point for new cases and believes that once the market returns to normal, economic activity will rebound and resume its growth trajectory.
Chief executive Constantin Baack said: "Whilst 2020 began with an encouraging outlook as the global economy displayed first signs of recovery, the outbreak of the Covid-19 coronavirus has notably disrupted global supply chains and the short-term trade outlook."
He said MPCC had delivered on its "balanced IMO 2020 strategy" and concluded capex-intensive scrubber retrofits and fuel change-over programmes, however.
Scrubber work out of the way
Baack said the firm had finished all 10 of its scrubber installations before the coronavirus hit Chinese yards.
These vessels "today enjoy longer-term employment at attractive terms, including fuel spread savings-sharing mechanisms," he added.
Net container freight demand growth in 2020 is currently projected at 2.1% on account of the Covid-19 virus, MPCC said.
Due to vessels entering drydock for scrubber retrofitting, a net supply growth in ships of only 1.2% is expected this year, it added.
A total of 104 vessels with 835,000 teu of carrying capacity are currently in shipyards.
No new feeder orders have been recorded thus far in 2020 and analysts expect the feeder order book to fleet ratio to decrease to 6% through to 2024.
"While the effects of Covid-19 will put near-term pressure on shipping logistics and transportation, feeder container market fundamentals remain intact and should provide for attractive opportunities going forward," the company said.
Loss grows in the fourth quarter
The net loss widened to $14.15m in the fourth quarter from $5.05m in the same period of 2018.
Total revenue was $44.2m, against $52.48m the year before.
The average timecharter (TCE) rate was $8,505 per day, down from $8,718 in the third quarter. Cash and cash equivalents stood at $40.2m.
The loss for the full year was $39.7m.
The company has signalled it may sell off some older, smaller ships after disposing of two 1,000-teu feeder vessels this month.
Fearnley Securities said Ebitda of $3m and a loss per share of 13 cents were largely in line with its estimates but below consensus.
"Again the quarter is impacted by significant off-hire related to retrofitting works and subsequent repositioning of vessels," it added.
But it said that its 10 ships with scrubbers should now see a benefit of $2m each in 2020.
