Samsung Heavy Industries has started the new financial year with a loss as previous weak orders continue to weigh on the shipbuilder’s financial performance.
The shipbuilder posted a loss of KRW 103.9bn ($82.7m) for the January to March 2022 period, while sales fell 5.8% to KRW 1.48 trillion.
Samsung currently has the world’s largest newbuilding orderbook in compensated gross tonnage terms according to the latest data from Clarksons.
The shipbuilder secured newbuilding orders worth $2.2bn during the first quarter: $1bn worth of LNG carriers and $1.2bn worth of container ships.
Samsung’s orderbook at the end of the first quarter was worth $26.3bn, according to the most recent investor relations report on its website.
The order backlog comprises a total of 147 ships made up of 58 LNG carriers (worth $12.2bn), 54 containerships ($6.8bn), 26 tankers ($3.2bn) and three other vessels.
Samsung said that despite increasing levels of new orders it does not expect to see a turnaround in its fortunes in 2022 due to the low number of orders in 2020 because of Covid-19.
However, the shipbuilder is aiming to see a turnaround in its fortunes in 2023 thanks to an improved financial structure and an investment in technology.
Clarksons recently reported that containership newbuild prices have generally seen the largest increases with the price of a newbuild 15,500-teu neo-Panamax unit up 47% since the start of 2021, while the price for an LNG carrier is up by 18% as of end-March.
TradeWinds recently reported that Samsung along with China’s Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding (SWS) and Yangzijiang Shipbuilding were in the running to build a series of six compact 8,000-teu neo-panamax container ships for Singapore’s Pacific International Lines.
Samsung has also recently delivered the first of two ice-classed aframax tankers for Russian state-run shipowner Sovcomflot. The two ships were ordered for $160m in November 2019.
SHI confirmed to TradeWinds that it had delivered the vessel, received payment and that the second newbuilding was being prepared for delivery.
South Korean media report that the country’s three major shipbuilders have orders worth over $8bn from Russian clients, with Samsung’s order backlog said to be the largest at $5bn.
