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PLAIN SAILING RESULTS • STOLT-NIELSEN’S BUSINESS MODEL HAS REMAINED EFFECTIVE IN SEEING IT THROUGH A TURBULENT YEAR, THOUGH THERE ARE SOME MAJOR CHANGES AND CHALLENGES AHEAD STOLT-NIELSEN ENJOYED a healthy 2021, with its range of operating divisions providing a good bulwark against sectoral weakness. Group revenues were up 11.6 per cent compared to 2020 at $2.18bn, with operating profit rising by 23 per cent to $233.7m and net profit shooting up from $25.4m to $78.8m. Much of that improvement was delivered by Stolt Tank Containers, although Stolt Sea Farm also contributed to growth. “The strong performance and market conditions that we saw in the third quarter at both Stolt Tank Containers and Stolt Sea Farm
STOLT-NIELSEN’S BREADTH OF INTERESTS IN THE INTERNATIONAL CHEMICAL SUPPLY CHAINS HAVE ALLOWED IT TO PROSPER DESPITE WEAKNESS IN THE CHEMICAL TANKER SECTOR AND FLAT EARNINGS FROM ITS TANK STORAGE BUSINESS
HCB MONTHLY | FEBRUARY 2022
continued through the fourth quarter,” says CEO Niels G Stolt-Nielsen. “At Stolt Tankers lower volumes and higher voyage expenses reduced our trading margins. The underlying steady operating performance and long-term build-up in value at Stolthaven Terminals was overshadowed by the impairment of the Newcastle terminal in Australia. For terminals overall there was further improvement in utilisation, although lower throughput volumes reflected modest dockside activity. Stolt Tank Containers’ markets strengthened, with rising freight rates and higher demurrage revenue compensating for the rising costs.” Results from Stolt Tankers were indeed weak, with the market for deepsea shipping dropping further as the year ended. Fourthquarter revenues of $307.8m were down on the previous quarter as contract of affreightment (COA) volumes fell by 6.6 per cent and could not be fully compensated for by spot market
activity, where rates were off from the third quarter by 1.4 per cent. Freight revenue from the regional fleets did improve slightly. Stolt Tankers’ fourth-quarter operating profit of $19.2m was down by 20 per cent against the prior quarter and compared badly to the $31.9m posted for the same period in 2020. This reflected the decline in deepsea revenue, higher timecharter hire expenses relating to the addition of pool ships in the third quarter, and higher barging and transhipment costs. Covid restrictions are still causing high crew change-over costs, the company reports. For the financial year as a whole, Stolt Tankers recorded an operating profit of $68.8m, down by 18.4 per cent compared to the figure of $84.6m posted in 2020. During the fourth quarter, Stolt Tankers determined that it would not be viable to repair Stolt Groenland, which suffered an explosion in Ulsan in 2019. As a result, it settled with its underwriters, booking a net loss of $13.0m. Stolt Tankers also disposed of Stolt Sequioa and Stolt Spruce for recycling. TANKS AND TANKS Results at Stolthaven Terminals, the group’s bulk liquids terminalling division, were relatively flat compared to the third quarter,
