DryShips Swings to 2Q Loss; Stock down 42% this year

Image courtesy Samsung Heavy Industries

(Dow Jones) DryShips Inc.’s (DRYS) swung to a sharp loss in its fiscal second-quarter as write-downs from the sale of several ships and higher interest-rate swaps losses weighed down a bottom line pressured by weak revenue.

Shares were down 12% at $2.80 after hours. The stock has dropped 42% this year through the close.

The company, which also owns offshore oil-drilling vessels, is among the shippers that face a glut of supply coming on the market in the next few years.

The company last month bought OceanFreight Inc. (OCNF) for $118 million as the cargo transporter looks to add additional vessels with long-term charters to its fleet.

Meanwhile, the company sold five vessels for $90.1 million, leading to net write-downs of $87 million.

On Tuesday, DryShips reported a loss of $114.1 million, or 33 cents a share, compared with a prior-year profit of $19.5 million, or 7 cents a share, a year earlier. Excluding impairments from vessel sales, interest-rate-swap losses and other impacts, earnings were 4 cents a share in the latest quarter.

Revenue edged down 0.1% to $224 million.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected a per-share profit of 17 cents a share with revenue of $258 million.

Drybulk fleet utilization, the percentage of time vessels were available for revenue-generating voyage days, decreased to 97.9% from 98.9%.

-By Drew FitzGerald, Dow Jones Newswires