Oslo-based car carrier owner Hoegh Autoliners posted a sharply improved result last year, but the company's figures remained in the red.
The annual report for 2017, which has just become publicly available, shows a pre-tax deficit of $24.7m. In 2016, its losses totalled nearly $224m.
The fact Hoegh continued to show losses was not unexpected.
In an interview with TradeWinds in June, chief financial officer Ingrid Due-Gundersen said it was unlikely Hoegh Autoliners would end up with a profit for 2017. But she acknowledged at the time that the year ended up “slightly better than expected due to a better cargo mix, while 2018 has started slightly worse than expected”.
The company anticipates improvements both for the rest of this year and 2019.
Although last year's result showed a sharp improvement, it was largely due to Hoegh Autoliners writing down the value of its fleet by $182m in 2016, while there were no such writedowns for 2017.
Revenue growth
Revenue increased from $978m to $997m in 2017.
Hoegh Autoliners operates 50 car carriers. Leif Hoegh & Co of Norway holds 61.25% of its shares, and principal Leif O Hoegh is chairman. The other 38.75% of the shares are held by AP Moller-Maersk.
Former Hoegh Autoliners chief executive Ingar Skiaker left the company for another job at Leif Hoegh & Co late last year, and the annual report for 2017 states he was paid a total renumeration of $1.9m for 2017.
Skiaker was replaced by Ivar Hansson Myklebust.
