Europe's largest shipbuilder, Aker Yards ASA, on Wednesday reported an 89 percent decline in net prophets for the third quarter from a year earlier, due to higher costs because of a wider shipbuilding boom.
The Oslo-based group said its net profit for the July through September quarter was 12 million kroner (US$2.24 million; €1.54 million) from 111 million kroner a year earlier. The decline was in line with the company's earlier projections, and it said profits were expected to rise again in the fourth quarter.
"The operational environment in the entire shipbuilding industry is still very heated. Access to qualified personnel is a key focus area in most of the countries in which Aker Yards operates," a news release said. It said the issues were especially challenging at its Finnish yards.
In general, it said, "A stretched suppliers market causes delays, and a number of deliveries from suppliers are still suffering from unacceptable quality." It said the challenges had been announced earlier, and that no new hurdles had emerged.
Aker Yards said its third-quarter revenues rose 15.4 percent to 7.51 billion kroner (US$1.4 billion; €963 million) from a year earlier, while operating costs increased 17.8 percent to 7.31 billion kroner (US$1.36 billion; €937 million) during the same period.
The results were announced before trading opened for the day on the Oslo stock exchange.
Aker Yards reported a strong order backlog of 138 ships worth 80.1 billion kroner (US$14.5 billion; €10.27 billion).
The group has about 21,000 employees and 17 shipyards in Norway, Finland, Germany, France, Romania, Ukraine and Brazil.
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