KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 27): Oil-and-gas shipping company MISC Bhd said on Tuesday its net profit slipped 2.7% for the fourth quarter ended Dec 31, 2023 (4QFY2023) from a year earlier, dragged by higher vessel operating costs and lower billings for its offshore business.

Net profit stood at RM627.30 million, compared with RM645.00 million a year earlier, MISC said in an exchange filing. Revenue for the quarter, however, rose 2.5% year-on-year to RM4.28 billion, from RM4.17 billion previously.

For the near term, MISC has flagged softer market conditions faced by its liquefied natural gas shipping segment due to fleet capacity growth, even as spot rates remain elevated.

The near-term outlook remains positive for the petroleum shipping business, MISC added, citing strong Atlantic exports and increased crude imports to Asia, and potentially higher tonne-mile demand following the Red Sea crisis.

The company declared a fourth interim dividend of 12 sen per share, or a total distribution of RM535.6 million, for FY2023.

Full-year net profit came in 16% higher at RM2.12 billion, versus RM1.82 billion for FY2022, thanks to better charter and freight rates. Revenue for the year, meanwhile, rose 2.9% to RM14.27 billion from RM13.87 billion.

The company expects “favourable” demand for floating production storage and offloading units driven by a “healthy number” of projects worldwide. For the marine and heavy engineering segment, MISC is betting on high oil prices to support further recovery in upstream capital expenditure.

However, business for the marine sub-segment could stay “challenging”, as competition intensifies, with the emergence of new repair shipyards in China and neighbouring countries, MISC cautioned.

Shares in MISC had slipped 0.5% to RM7.47 at Tuesday's noon market break, valuing the company at RM33.34 billion on Bursa Malaysia, ahead of the results announcement.