Shipping Corporation Dec qtr net loss narrows to Rs 66 crore

Shipping Corporation of India (SCI) today reported a narrowing of net loss to Rs 65.67 crore for the quarter ended December 31, helped by gains booked on sale of ships.
The state-run company had reported a net loss of Rs 75.26 crore during October-December quarter of the previous fiscal.
The total income of SCI was up 7.6 per cent at Rs 1,110.77 crore during the third quarter of the current fiscal, mainly due to Rs 72.97 crore income on profit incurred for sale of ships during the quarter, it said.
Total income during the corresponding quarter of the previous fiscal stood at Rs 1,031.68 crore.

"During the quarter ended December 31, 2013, the company sold product tanker R N Tagore, bulk carrier Maharashtra and crude oil tanker Motilal Nehru," the company said in a filing to the BSE.
The net sales of the company declined to Rs 998.11 crore during the reporting quarter from Rs 1,010.97 crore in October-December 2012 period though other operating income doubled to about Rs 40 crore during the reporting quarter.

Its total expenditure rose to Rs 1,156.74 crore during the quarter against Rs 1,085.29 crore in the year-ago period.
Shares of the company closed at Rs 35.45 apiece, down 1.25 per cent from their previous close on the BSE.

As the country's premier shipping line, the SCI owns and operates around one-third of the Indian tonnage, and has operating interests in practically all areas of the shipping business; servicing both national and international trades.