Thai Precious Shipping 2007 profit up, lags forecasts

BANGKOK, Feb 13 (Reuters) - Precious Shipping PCL PSL.BK, Thailand's largest shipping firm, reported a less-than-expected 12 percent rise in 2007 net profit on Wednesday as rising freight rates outpaced a stronger baht and lower fleet capacity.

Precious, which ships mainly Thai agricultural products and building materials, said in a statement it made a net profit of 4.16 billion baht ($126 million), or 4.01 baht per share, up from 3.72 billion baht a year earlier.

The result was below an average forecast of 4.46 billion baht by ten analysts polled by Reuters Estimates.

Long-term contracts would mean the company will miss out on higher freight rates in 2008, analysts said. They projected a 5.6 percent fall in net profit to 3.92 billion baht.

The firm has said it planned to maintain long-term contracts at more than 50 percent of capacity over the next four years.

Last year's results included a 1.56 billion baht gain on the sale of 10 older ships in the first half of 2007, but operating income fell 13 percent last year due to the smaller fleet.

Precious, which operates 44 Handy-size ships, said average earnings per day per vessel rose to $13,147 in 2007 from $11,387 a year earlier, due mainly to rising international freight markets in the second half of the year.

A one-time provision for cargo claims and higher maintenance expenses pushed the average operating cost per day per ship to $4,005 from $3,622 in 2006.

Precious said it booked a 175 million baht foreign exchange loss last year when the baht rose 7 percent against the dollar.