Sovcomflot, Russia's largest shipping company, on Thursday posted a 52.4 percent decline in its net profit in January-September 2011, year on year, to $45.731 million to IFRS, the company said in a statement on Thursday.
The company's revenue increased 8 percent in the first nine months of 2011 to $1.076 billion, while its operating profit fell 21.3 percent in the first nine months of this year to $155.571 million.
The company's time-charter equivalent amounted to $697.330 million, a 3.5 percent decrease year-on-year.
In November, Sovcomflot General Director Sergei Frank said that in 2011 the company expected to get a net profit to IFRS, despite the crisis in the world tanker sector. Last year, Sovcomflot's net profit stood at $164.3 million.
The company was included in a $33-billion privatization plan for 2011-2013, which stipulated the sale of shares in the country's top 10 companies. The government intended to privatize 25 percent minus one share in Sovcomflot in December 2011, another 25 percent in 2012 and decrease its stake below control in 2014-2015 but had to postpone the start of the privatization until 2013 due to unfavorable market conditions.
Sovcomflot operated 157 vessels with a total deadweight of 11.7 million tons as of June 30, 2011.
