DNV GL in the Red
Poor offshore and shipping markets have resulted in a loss for Oslo-based classification society DNV GL for the first time since 1986.
The company has posted a net loss of NOK 216m ($24.8m), compared with a NOK 1.014bn profit a year earlier, MANA correspondent reported.
A key reason was one-off costs of NOK 1.2bn incurred in trimming down the organisation. Last year, DNV GL cut staff by 1,400 and at the end of 2016 it had 13,550 employees.
DNV GL, however, has a solid financial platform. Equity ratio is about 65% and the company has no interest bearing debt.
Operating revenues fell from NOK 23.390bn in 2015 to NOK 20.934bn. Pre-tax profit tumbled from NOK 1.726bn to NOK 136m.
Det Norske Veritas (DNV) in 2013 merged with Germanischer Lloyd (GL) of Germany. Plans to capitalise on synergies were put in place but the process was hampered by the dramatic decline in the oil, offshore and shipping industries.
One-fifth of the world fleet is classed by DNV GL. The Paris memorandum of understanding (MOU) has for several years ranked the merged company as the best performing, recognised organisation in terms of port state-control (PSC) performance.