SINGAPORE (THE BUSINESS TIMES) - Sembcorp Marine (SembMarine) has sunk into the red with a net loss of $77.7 million for its fourth quarter ended Dec 31 from a net profit of $5.9 million a year ago.

This was mainly due to lower overall business, the rig builder said in a regulatory filing on Thursday (Feb 20).

Loss per share stood at 3.72 cents for the quarter, from an earnings per share of 0.28 cent a year ago.

Revenue for Q4 fell 31.7 per cent to $623.5 million, from $913.2 million a year ago. This was due to lower revenue recognition from rigs and floaters projects, mitigated by higher repair and upgrade revenue.

For the full year ended Dec31, net loss widened to $137.2 million from $74.1 million a year ago, while revenue was down 41 per cent to $2.88 billion, from $4.89 billion a year ago.

No dividend was recommended for the full year.

SembMarine said that despite difficult market conditions, it secured new contracts of $1.49 billion in FY 2019, higher than the $1.18 billion for the previous year.

On outlook, SembMarine said that business activity levels remain low for all segments except for repairs and upgrades. It also expects the trend of losses to continue into 2020.

SembMarine said that the repairs and upgrades segment continues to improve, underpinned by International Maritime Organization regulations that require installation of ballast water treatment systems and gas scrubbers.

Supply chain disruptions due to the Covid-19 situation could affect execution of SembMarine's projects, it added, and competition remains intense for all business segments.

Shares of SembMarine closed at $1.24 on Wednesday, up $0.05 or 4.2 per cent.