Samudera Shipping H1 profit doubles to US$41.8 million

[SINGAPORE] Samudera Shipping reported a 100.4 per cent increase in net profit to US$41.8 million for its first half ended Jun 30, from US$20.9 million in the corresponding year-ago period.

Revenue rose 28 per cent to US$285.5 million, the mainboard-listed company said on Tuesday (Jul 29). This was attributed to increased business activity and container freight rate improvements.

Container volume in H1 stood at 990,000 20-foot equivalent units (TEUs), up from 879,000 TEUs in the same period in the previous year.

Contributions from the container segment were higher as the average freight rate for H1 FY2025 exceeded that in the same period in FY2024, the company said.

Revenue from the group’s container segment rose 29.3 per cent to US$261.9 million in the latest H1, from US$202.5 million a year ago.

Samudera Shipping expects the operating environment for the container shipping industry to remain challenging in the near term. It noted that globally, container freight rates have started to ease from earlier highs following the front-loading of cargoes in previous months.

“Further softening of freight rates is expected, in view of the progressive implementation of US tariffs across various countries and ongoing geopolitical tensions in the Middle East,” the group said.

Revenue from its logistics segment rose 15.6 per cent to US$9.1 million from US$7.8 million a year ago, mainly due to an increase in fourth-party logistics business in Indonesia.

The logistics business is expected to deliver positive returns, and Samudera Shipping sees opportunities to grow its fourth-party logistics business, leveraging its expanding track record and growing demand for such services in Indonesia.

Earnings per share stood at US$0.0777, up from US$0.0388 in the year-ago period.

The group declared a dividend of S$0.015 per share, which will be paid out on Aug 21.

Samudera Shipping’s shares closed at S$0.995 on Tuesday, down S$0.005 or 0.5 per cent.