Qatar’s Milaha sees marginal bottomline growth in 1H 2023 amid falling container rates

Qatari ocean carrier Milaha ’s bottomline inched up 1% y-o-y to QAR 284 mn in 2Q 2023 , amid a continued slump in container rates, according to the company’s consolidated quarterly financials (pdf). Revenues for the quarter came in at QAR 744.6 mn, down almost 14% when compared to the same period last year.

On a half-year basis: Milaha’s bottomline for 1H 2023 inched up 0.9% y-o-y to QAR 647.9 mn, according to its semi-annual financials (pdf). Total operating revenues declined almost 15% y-o-y to QAR 1.51 bn.

A drop in container rates from last year’s “near record highs” underpinned muted performance: Milaha Maritime and Logistics division — which covers the group’s port services, container shipping, and other activities — saw its bottomline for the first six months of 2023 fall 84% y-o-y to QAR 30 mn on the back of a steep fall in container rates, according to the company’s investor’s presentation (pdf).

But improved performance across other operations more than made up for the shortfall: Milaha’s other subsidiaries all saw positive bottomline growth in 1H 2023, with Milaha Offshore seeing its net income more than triple to QAR 128 mn, on the back of higher yielding projects and better operational efficiency, the investor’s presentation showed. Milaha’s gas and petrochem segment also saw its bottomline rise 6% y-o-y as the business’ first floating storage and offloading (FSO) unit came online halfway last year, making the largest contribution to Milaha’s coffers with a net income of QAR 326 mn.

Looking ahead: The company has muted expectations for maritime freight and other logistics operations in 2H 2023. It sees container rates remaining stable following the large slump in 1H, while warehousing and freight forwarding will likewise also be “subdued,” according to the investors’ presentation. Other operations are slated to see strong to stable growth, in line with what has been observed so far this year.