Rickmers Maritime sinks deeply in the red on impairment charges

SINGAPORE - Container ship operator Rickmers Maritime went into the red for the fourth quarter due to huge impairment charges.

The mainboard-listed trust reported a net loss of US$129.6 million (S$182.4 million) for the three months ended Dec 31, compared with a net profit of US$11.2 million in the same period a year earlier.

This was due to non-cash impairment charges of US$128.4 million in the light of the depressed charter market, said its trustee-manager in a Singapore Exchange filing on Feb 19.

Charter revenues for the quarter fell 24 per cent to US$24.1 million due mainly to lower market charter rates of vessels.

It has continued to suspend distributions to unitholders for the quarter in order to conserve cash, said the trustee-manager.

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