KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 28): Scomi Group Bhd posts its second consecutive quarter in the red with a net loss of RM21.2 million, as revenue almost halved on a year-on-year basis on lower contributions from its oilfield services, transportation solutions and marine services segments.

Revenue for the second quarter ended Sept 30, 2016 (2QFY17) fell to RM176.05 million from RM337.76 million a year ago, when it achieved a net profit of RM5 million, its bourse filing today showed.

Oilfield services was the biggest drag on its quarterly results, with a segment loss of RM7 million as compared to a segment profit of RM21.8 million a year ago, as revenue fell 56% to RM110.4 million from RM250.9 million, on lower drilling activities in several countries as its customers grew cautious in their drilling plans.

Its transport solutions recorded a loss of RM3 million versus a profit of RM1.9 million in 2QFY16, mainly due to unrealised foreign exchange losses arising from the translation of accrued receivables for the Mumbai monorail project as the Indian rupee weakened against ringgit; revenue slid 29% to RM30.6 million from RM43.3 million, with lower revenue from both rail and commercial vehicle segments.

Its marine services posted a loss of RM13.9 million against a loss of RM5 million in 2QFY16, as revenue declined 19% to RM35.1 million from RM43.6 million on less use of offshore vessels, with fixed costs in place.

For its cumulative first half (1HFY17), it posted a net loss of RM33.4 million compared to a net profit of RM14.7 million in the 1HFY16, as revenue declined 42% to RM413.6 million from RM717.7 million.

Moving forward, the group expects oil price to remain at current levels in the near term and that customers will not invest significantly, which would result in low revenue for its drilling services.

"Our primary focus continues to be in the area of cost optimisation and bringing new products to market in existing countries," it said in a note filed with Bursa Malaysia.

As for its marine services, it said coal prices have strengthened, which creates opportunities for higher utilisation of its vessels. It will also explore opportunities to charter out its vessels at competitive rates.

Its transport solutions continue to focus on completing projects in Brazil, India and Malaysia and are progressing well with the additional scopes awarded for the Line 17 Monorail project in Brazil.

Having said all that, Scomi expects its performance outlook to "remain challenging" for the rest of the financial year.

Scomi Group's shares settled unchanged at 10.5 sen today, with a market capitalisation of RM199.8 million. Year to date, the counter has declined 38%.