State-run Shipping Corporation of India (SCI) today reported nearly 40% decline in net profit at Rs 74.10 crore for the third quarter ended December 31, 2011.
The company had reported a net profit of Rs 123.06 crore during the October-December quarter of the last fiscal.
However, the company witnessed a rise of about 9 nine% in its income from operations at Rs 967.01 crore as against Rs 888.93 crore in the same period last fiscal, SCI said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE).
It has 33 vessels on order, of which 21 are ordered on Chinese shipyards. The company has been able to tie up the financing in respect to only 10 of these vessels.
The company which accounts for about one-third of the total Indian shipping fleet of 9.61 million gross tonnage, has acquired 25 vessels during the 11th Five-Year Plan (2007-12).
It also runs a fleet of 82 ships, including bulk carriers, oil tankers and product and chemical carriers. It has another 26 ships under construction at various Indian and overseas yards.
SCI wants Indian ships to be given contracts of five to seven years to ferry crude oil, petroleum products and gas, thermal coal, coking coal, fertiliser and iron ore.
The public sector company has asked the government to reserve at least one-third of sea-borne cargo for vessels registered in the country.
