ASL Marine Holdings' net loss for the three months ended Sept 30, 2020 widened to S$13 million from S$11.35 million a year ago.

 

Revenue fell 13.5 per cent year-on-year to S$35.88 million for Q1 FY2021 on the back of lower revenue from its ship-chartering business segment.

 

Loss per share for the quarter under review was 2.07 Singapore cents, compared to a loss per share of 1.8 Singapore cents a year ago.

 

In an update on its operations, ASL said that its ship buildings operations resumed work in mid August and will be progressively delivering its existing order books of tugs with expected deliveries up to Q3 FY2021.

 

It added that demand for ship repair services are still affected by restrictive movement controls in Indonesia and Singapore. Meanwhile, the group expects continued pressure on charter rates due to market competition and the pandemic.

 

Barring any unforeseen circumstances, the group expects a recovery trend in H2 FY2021 (January to June 2021), it said.

 

OFFSHORE and marine group ASL Marine said on Tuesday that its wholly-owned unit has secured shipbuilding contracts from the Aquaculture Centre of Excellence (ACE) for the construction of two Eco-Ark fish farms.

 

It did not disclose the deal amount.

 

Eco-Ark is a floating, closed-containment fish farm, which is said to be able to generate a higher yield of fish within a smaller space than other coastal farms. 

 

Upon completion, the two farms will be anchored in the northern coast of Singapore near the coast of Pulau Ubin. Construction work is expected to start this month and be done by the first quarter of next year.  

 

The farms are designed according to sustainability principles to meet the increasing demand for food fish and the Singapore government&rsquo s food-security target - fulfilling 30 per cent of the country&rsquo s nutritional needs locally by 2030, said ASL Marine. 

 

Revenue from the contracts will be recognised in accordance with ASL Marine&rsquo s revenue recognition policy. 

 

Barring unforeseen circumstances, the contracts are expected to have a positive, but not material, impact on the net tangible assets and earnings per share of the group for the financial year ending June 30, 2021, said the company.

THE mainboard-listed company expects a 40 per cent reduction in monthly shiprepair and shipchartering revenue for Q4 FY2020, depending on how long the Covid-19 situation will persist.

 

Restrictions on travel and on the number of employees allowed at work have resulted in construction work on the group' s four existing shipbuilding projects in Singapore stopping temporarily. In Indonesia, ASL is also unable to bid for or complete more complex and higher value shiprepair works due to its reliance on Singapore specialists.