Improving utilization rates of Meriaura’s special cargo vessels
Translation: Original comment published in Finnish on 12/15/2023 at 7:12 am EET.
On Thursday, Meriaura Group announced a long-term and reasonably significant customer contract in the field of special cargo transport. The contract concretizes the positive outlook for special cargo vessel utilization rates highlighted in the company's Q3 report.
Visibility on demand for the next two years
Under the terms of the agreement, Meriaura Group will provide transport services for large steel modules from Baltic Sea ports to Norway for Aker Solutions. The contract is worth 3-4.5 MEUR and it spans the next two years. The project is of a reasonable size for Meriaura and provides visibility on the demand for special cargo vessels for years to come. We estimate that the contract will cover 2-4% of the total revenue of Marine Logistics in 2024-25. In recent years, special cargo has accounted for around a third of the unit’s revenue. Increased demand for special cargo transport may require an increase in freight capacity, which can be met, especially in the short term, by chartering an additional vessel in addition to the two existing open deck carriers.
The agreement reinforces the company's message of improving utilization rates
In its Q3 report, Meriaura Group said that it expects demand for Marine Logistics to pick up in the remainder of the year thanks to a strong order book and new project orders. The agreement now announced supports this view and slightly reduces the level of risk associated with our forecasts. We have tried to take into account the improving utilization rates in our forecasts and we forecast the operating result of Marine Logistics to improve to 4.6 MEUR in 2024 (2023e: 4.1 MEUR) driven purely by the special cargo business. For the time being, we see no need for forecast changes.
Meriaura Group
Meriaura Group has two business areas: Maritime Logistics and Renewable Energy. Meriaura transports dry cargo and executes demanding project deliveries in Northern Europe. The company offers CO2 reducing marine transport services based on the use of recycled, in-house produced bio-oil. Meriaura Energy designs and delivers clean energy production solutions for district heating and industrial use worldwide, with Europe as the main market area.
Read more on company pageKey Estimate Figures2023-11-30
2022 | 23e | 24e | |
---|---|---|---|
Revenue | 8.6 | 67.4 | 76.1 |
growth-% | 245.82 % | 680.09 % | 12.95 % |
EBIT (adj.) | -3.8 | 0.5 | 2.8 |
EBIT-% (adj.) | -43.58 % | 0.78 % | 3.65 % |
EPS (adj.) | -0.01 | -0.00 | 0.00 |
Dividend | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
Dividend % | |||
P/E (adj.) | - | - | 24.28 |
EV/EBITDA | - | 9.34 | 6.48 |