South Pacific operating owner and chartered of a fleet of short range tankers Yujin International (AIM: YUJ) reported a reduction in cargoes for its three coastal tankers, which now also waited longer between shipments, saying its full year earnings would be below market expectations and it was hard to tell when revenues would begin to increase again.
The company said the reduction was a result of the decrease in demand for the transport of cargo in the Asia Pacific region, which impacted fellow operators of all sizes. Yujin will now be focusing on protecting its bunker tanker business, which has remained resilient and operated in line with expectations as four of its seven tankers were on fixed charters in the sector, three until Q2 2011 and one until February 2010.
Despite the strong performance in the bunker tanker business, the negative impact from the downturn in the regional tankering business would be enough to push Yujin’s full year earnings below market expectations, the company said in the statement.
Shares in Yujin plummeted 25% following the release of the update.