ASRY income hits $106m

Arab Shipbuilding and Repair Yard Company (ASRY) earned a net operating income of $106.35 million for the first nine months of the current fiscal. The company said it repaired 147 vessels during the period, but sales dropped compared with the same period last year reflecting the downswing in the regional shipping  industry. "We hope that there will be improvement in the ship repair market, which is still suffering from slackness and severe competition," ASRY Chairman, Shaikh Daij bin Salman bin Daij Al Khalifa said yesterday.
Speaking at the Board of Directors meeting yesterday to review ASRY's financial and operational results for the first nine months of 2010, he exuded confidence that the company's policy of diversification into offshore and military ship repairs would help it overcome the difficult period.
The board thanked the management and all the employees of the company for their unstinted efforts in the face of severe competition.
Earlier in the day, Shaikh Daij also inaugurated the company's new administration building yesterday, as a part of the company's $188m overall expansion plan.
At a time when many shipyards around the world have cancelled or postponed major facility expansion programmes due to the ongoing global recession, ASRY bucked the trend and was pushing ahead with its planned $188m expansion programme.
The Chairman also congratulated the board members and management and all ASRY employees on the occasion of the company winning the Lloyd's List Global Award in the category of corporate social responsibility for 2010.
"This is a global recognition for the utmost care ASRY gives to its employees, Bahrain community and environment."
Representatives of the shareholding countries - Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Iraq and Libya - were present.