Hello, welcome to the Qatar Navigation Conference Call. I would like to advise all participants that this call is being recorded. Thank you. I'd now like to welcome Mr. Bobby Sarkar to begin the conference. Bobby, over to you.
Thank you, Bhavesh. Hi, hello everyone. This is Bobby Sarkar, Head of Research at QNB Financial Services. I wanted to welcome everyone to Milaha's first quarter 2024 results conference call. So on this call from Milaha management, we have Akram Iswaisi, who is the Executive Vice President in Finance and Investments, and Sami Shtayyeh, who is the VP in Financial Planning and Analysis. So as usual, we'll conduct this conference with management going over the company's presentation, followed by a brief Q&A. I would now like to turn the call over to Akram. Akram, please go ahead.
Thank you very much. Thank you everyone for joining Milaha's Q1 2024 earnings call and your interest in the company. We started off the year with mixed results across our various segments, but overall ended up in terms of group-wide net profit in a very good position. As we look ahead at the year, it is evident that we'll be faced not only with various challenges but also opportunities, but we're optimistic about what's to come. To start things off, I will go over our consolidated financial results and then discuss our various individual business segments before turning it over to Sami to go over the outlook. As usual, we will end the call with Q&A.
The highlights of our financial results: Milaha's operating revenue came in at QAR 747 million with the 3 months ended March 31, 2024, compared with QAR 766 million for the same period in 2023 for a decrease of 3%. Operating profit came in at QAR 208 million for the 3 months ended March 31, 2024, compared with QAR 210 million for the same period in 2023 for a decrease of 1%. Net profit for the 3 months ended March 31, 2024, was QAR 365 million compared with QAR 363 million for the same period in 2023 for an increase of 1%. Lastly, our earnings per share was QAR 0.32 for the 3 months ended March 31, 2024, compared with QAR 0.32 for the same period in 2023.
Moving on to the segments, starting off with Maritime and Logistics, operating revenue for Maritime and Logistics decreased by QAR 49 million, going from QAR 215 million in Q1 2023 to QAR 165 million in Q1 2024. QAR 28 million of the drop came from our container shipping unit and was mainly a result of reduced shipping rates, obviously compared to the same period last year. Let me comment on this point because it is counter to what the overall container shipping industry is facing. As you may know, due to the Red Sea crisis, global container shipping rates increased quite dramatically. However, a large portion of the containerized cargo we ship is routed from India where rates have, in fact, come down versus the same period in 2023, and this had had a negative impact on our top line.
21 million of the drop in overall Maritime and Logistics revenue came from freight logistics unit, which saw reduced volumes and warehouse utilization versus the same period in 2023. Obviously, Q1 of 2023 was quite high considering the overflow and impact from the World Cup. In terms of operating expenses, they came down by QAR 41 million, driven primarily by reduced logistics volumes, lower container shipping pass-through expenses, and a favorable reversal of bad debt provisions due to the successful recovery of outstanding bad debt. At the non-operating income level, we had a QAR 24 million decrease, which contributed to a net profit drop from QAR 19 million to a negative QAR 14 million in Q1 2024. Moving on to Offshore, operating revenues in Offshore continue to be strong and increased from QAR 340 million in Q1 2023 to QAR 373 million in Q1 2024.
Increased chartering rates, additional subsea and engineering-related projects and services, and higher volumes from our industrial logistics unit drove the growth. On the operating expense side, we saw a QAR 31 million year-over-year increase, and that's mainly coming from a non-recurring favorable VAT provision reversal that was recorded last year and increased corporate expenses in our industrial logistics unit. Overall, net income dropped by QAR 3 million from QAR 67 million in Q1 2023 to QAR 63 million in Q1 2024. At the operating level, Gas and Petrochem had a slight uptick in Q1 2024 versus 2023, going up by QAR 2 million, largely due to favorable one-off items. At the non-operating level, income increased by QAR 29 million with a QAR 39 million increase from results of associates, primarily Nakilat, more than offsetting a drop of QAR 9 million from results from joint arrangements, mainly from our VLGC JV.
Net profit for the segment ended up QAR 30 million or 19% versus same period in 2023. In our Trading segment, reduced heavy equipment and bunker sales volumes and margins negatively impacted our results, with the bottom line slipping from QAR 3 million of profit in Q1 2023 to a negative QAR 4 million loss in Q1 2024. And lastly, Milaha Capital, although there was a drop of 2% in revenue from Q1 2023 to Q1 2024, primarily due to reduced Qatar Quarries sales, overall net profit increased by QAR 15 million, driven by higher overall investment income. That wraps up the segments, and I will now hand it over to Sami to discuss the outlook for the rest of the year.
T hank you, Akram.
Starting with Maritime and Logistics, on the container shipping side, we expect rates to continue being under pressure due to depressed global demand and expected new vessel capacity coming online. In freight logistics, the environment is still quite challenging and expected to remain so. Our focus remains on boosting sales efforts and improving operating efficiencies. In offshore, on the support vessels and services side, we expect to see continued growth, particularly longer-term, with all the expansion work in Qatar's oil and gas industry. For the harbor operations, we expect stable revenue throughout the year given that most vessels are on a long-term contract. Similarly, for industrial logistics, we expect fairly stable revenue due to long-term contracts. Gas and Petrochem, overall, we expect limited volatility due to the long-term nature of contracts we have in most business units.
Our VLGC JV is the exception where performance is difficult to predict due to volatile spot prices. However, they're currently quite healthy. In trading, we will continue to focus on profitable growth and margin improvement. And lastly, Capital, where we will continue to focus on yield enhancement. With that, we'll now open up for questions and answers. Thank you.
Thank you. If you'd like to ask a question, simply press the star, followed by one on your telephone keypad. That is star one to ask a question. Our first question comes in line of Abdullah Amin from QNB. Please go ahead.
Hi. Thank you for the presentation and the set of results. I just want to know how this earnings expansion is going to benefit Milaha other than QGTS share, if you can elaborate more, and when are we able to see this in the earnings?
Thank you for the question. The impact for the North Field expansion will positively impact primarily our Offshore division. I can tell you, we have bid on a large number of contracts, and we have a pipeline of contracts. Now, usually there's a lead time. If we win a contract or a tender, we need at least 6 months to a year to be able to acquire the vessel. Some vessels are available today. Some have been preordered, but usually there's a lead time. I can't disclose much on what we've won right now, but we're optimistic second half of the year should look much more positive for these business units. These are long-term contracts that we will begin to see the fruits of these investments or the benefits of these contracts next year and the years after.
But I can tell you, we're very optimistic, very upbeat about the Offshore division based on the activities that we see in the market and based on the volume of tenders that we have bid on and that we've been winning.
Do you have a base case scenario or how much growth we see over the next three, five years in earnings or revenue? Any probability if you get assuming there's 100 contracts available and you get 20 out of it, how much is that? Any idea? No specific numbers required, but any idea how the earnings will grow over the years, over the quarters?
I can tell you we're going to strive to disclose more by the second half of the year, but we're bound by confidentiality agreement. So once we're able to share more, we should be able to do that in the subsequent quarters. And as I said, we've got a lot of good news, and we want to be able to share it, but we need to clear the red tape first because we are bound by confidentiality agreements. But the pipeline looks fantastic, and I think you already see that in the market. OSV market is still very strong. Rates have gone up, but the pipeline of work is there. With all this capacity expansion, by default, you're doubling the capacity. You will need a significant amount of, I would say, marine infrastructure to support this.
We are one of the key beneficiaries by virtue of being the leading company in Qatar in that space.
Thank you. Thank you very much. Much appreciated.
As a reminder, if you'd like to ask a question, please press the star, followed by the one on your telephone. That's star one to ask a question. Our next question comes from the line of Rob Skepper from Ashmore. Please go ahead.
Hi. Hi, everyone. Thanks for the call today. Yeah, I mean, just following up from that question on the Offshore segment, is it possible at this stage to talk about the capital needs for that segment in order to ramp it up to a higher level?
Again, if you look at the CAPEX requirements for the expected that's needed for the expansion, it is substantial. I mean, today, the average vessel can cost, depending on whether it's new or whether it's old, anywhere from $30-$50 million a pop. So even if you're just simply doing five vessels at $40 million a pop, you're talking about $200 million easily. And so the CAPEX requirements are going to be substantial, but it really depends on the type of vessel that you need, whether it's a PSV, AHTS. Even diving support vessels can be again, depending on specifications, requirements could be $100 million or it could be $60-$70 million. So there is going to be a CAPEX requirements to be able to meet those contractual requirements and to be able to bid on projects.
Yeah. Okay. Thanks. And then in terms of the type of contracts, are they typically exposed to spot rates? Is it kind of when you say long-term, how long-term are they? How certain will you be of the return for this segment?
I think if you look at long-term, it's defined differently in each of the different shipping segments. Historically, Offshore, long-term is anywhere from 2-5 years. But I think if you look at our relationship with the oil majors in Qatar, it's a long-term relationship, and we have been able to renew a lot of the contracts. And so we have a good visibility into, let's say, that relationship, and we deem our relationships to be long-term. I can't disclose specifics on the duration, but I can tell you that by virtue of that demand being there and it's not short-term in nature and again, you're talking about doubling the capacity. I don't want to say doubling the infrastructure to support that, but if you're doubling the infrastructure, you need a lot of marine infrastructure to support that as well.
By default, the nature of the arrangements will be long. Contractually, they may not be 10 years. It may be five years. But we're optimistic that those contracts will be renewed because the demand is there.
Yeah. Yeah. Okay. And overall.
And then overall, I can tell you the market is healthy. The next 5-7 years, Offshore market is a phenomenal strong market. And you can see that from if you look at even our competitors, their earnings are fantastic. The day rates for chartering vessels are fantastic. Even vessel valuations have gone up significantly. So that tells you a little bit about the dynamics of the market. But again, as I mentioned, we are a leading partner to the offshore oil and gas sector here in Qatar. We're here to support them, and we see a long-term relationship that's mutually beneficial. And that's how we position our service offerings.
Yeah. Great. Thank you.
There are no further questions at this time. Apologies. We now have a question from Nikhil Pothene from CBFS. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Hi. This is actually related largely with the overall Qatar government policies regarding the tax rate. Do you see something in terms of 2025 onwards tax rate being introduced in Qatar?
I mean, again, this is a global push, if you will, right? So it's not unique to Qatar, and you're seeing Global Minimum Tax being implemented everywhere, right? UAE, next door. And I believe they've enacted a 9% tax in UAE. So you're seeing that in the region. So from our perspective, taxes are coming. How they get implemented, how that gets structured, that's the question. But we know Global Minimum Tax is coming everywhere. So it's not a question of if. It's a question of when.
I mean, do you see that coming in 2025 itself?
I can't opine on a country policy. But again, from our position, we're planning for our initial position, we were planning for taxes this year. But depending on when they roll it out, that's when we'll know, right? So it depends on when the government decides that taxes will be enacted. We don't have any insight into when. That really depends on the country's policy or the Ministry of Finance, if you will.
Okay. Thank you, sir.
Thank you. There are no further questions at this time. I'll now hand the call back. Excuse me. We have a follow-up question from Wei Chao from Epicure. Please go ahead.
Hello, gentlemen. Thank you for the call. Is my?
Am I audible?
Go ahead. Thank you.
Yeah. So on the Offshore Marine segment, if you can throw some light on despite the revenue increase, somewhat the increase in cost have surpassed the increase in profits. So what exactly is happening? There's some front-loading of cost, or is it something else?
Yeah. Hi. This is Sami. I'm going to answer that question. So if you look year-over-year, really the big difference is the fact that last year, we had recorded the favorable VAT provision reversal. So that impacted last year beneficially, and that did not recur this year. So when you're looking year-over-year, that's really the main reason of why the costs have gone up.
Understood. Thank you. And just if you can remind us on your renewal of the tower that you have in the West Bay, when is it due?
Well, I mean, again, we have a nondisclosure agreement on this, but the contract has extension clauses, so they could be potentially exercised. So it's something we can't disclose right now just because of who the tenant is, to be honest with you. But whenever that gets renewed, we'll announce it on the call.
Okay. Got it. Thank you. Thank you, gentlemen.
There are no further questions at this time. I will now hand the call back over to Mr. Bobby Sarkar.
Okay. Thank you, Bhavesh. So if there are no further questions, I would like to thank Akram and Sami for taking the time to answer our questions, and we will pick this up next quarter. Thanks, everyone.
Thank you. This concludes today's conference.
Thank you.
Thank you. This concludes today's conference call. You may now disconnect.