MPC Capital’s profits have halved despite revenues remaining steady.
Consolidated net profit amounted to €13.6m ($14.8m) in the first nine months of 2023, down from €26.3m in the same period last year.
The Deutsche Borse-listed German company said revenues were little changed at €27.6m, while transaction revenues of €5.6m remained steady, mainly due to the purchase and sale of assets that the company managed for investors.
This included the delivery of the first container ship from a newbuilding programme confirmed by MPC Capital in January 2022.
MPC Capital, which is a backer of Oslo-listed MPC Container Ships, moved into the methanol-powered container ship space in 2021, ordering four 5,500-teu vessels in South Korea.
It later sold three of these to Norwegian leaseback owner Ocean Yield.
The units are chartered to Israel’s Zim over seven years and are being delivered this year and in 2024 by HJ Shipbuilding & Construction. The first in the series of six vessels initiated by MPC Capital, the 5,500-teu Zim Danube (built 2023), was delivered to Ocean Yield in September.
MPC Capital said financial assets mostly comprising the co-investments amounted to €46.2m, mainly due to the sale of projects in the shipping segment.
Outlook maintained
The company confirmed its forecast for the full year issued in February and expects consolidated revenues to be at the previous year’s level.
Adjusted for the one-off effect of the sale of the Dutch real estate activities in the previous year, earnings power is expected to improve further in the 2023 financial year, it said.
Ebit should range between €15m and €20m, due to a lower cost base and continued high income from co-investments.
