The firm reported net profit of about 1.28 billion riyals ($352 million) for the quarter.
This compares to 1.19 billion riyals in the third quarter last year.
According to Nakilat, net profit in the July-September period was driven by higher revenue from wholly-owned vessels, lower depreciation, and lower finance costs.
Nakilat reported a 7 percent increase in its net profit to about 829 million riyals for the January-June period.
Total income reached 3.44 billion riyals ($946 million) in the third quarter, down 1 percent compared to the same period in 2023.
Nakilat said this was due to lower income received from LPG vessels and shipyard joint venture and lower interest, and other income received resulting from investment in Nakilat newbuild program and the introduction of interim dividend.
It distributed an interim cash dividend of 0.07 riyals per share for the first half of this year.
The LNG shipping firm said its expenses dropped by 5.3 percent to 2.16 billion riyals in the third quarter, mainly due to lower finance charges and lower depreciation and amortization.
36 LNG carriers on order
Nakilat said it has high earning visibility with 879 years on firm contract backlog.
Additionally, the company has 585 years of option period for wholly-owned vessels.
Nakilat’s fleet currently includes 24 conventional LNG carriers, 31 Q-Flex vessels (210,000-217,000 cbm), 14 Q-Max vessels (263,000-266,000 cbm), and also one FSRU.
This includes jointly-owned LNG carriers.
In January, Nakilat placed orders worth about $955 million with South Korea’s Hyundai Samho for the construction of two LNG tankers and four LPG/ammonia carriers.
Moreover, Nakilat signed in March time charter agreements with LNG giant QatarEnergy for 25 conventional-size LNG carriers as part of the second phase of its massive shipbuilding program.
Seventeen of the 25 LNG vessels are being constructed at the Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) shipyards in South Korea, while the remaining eight are being constructed at Hanwha Ocean, formerly Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering.
QatarEnergy also signed a time charter and operation agreement with Nakilat for nine 271,000-cbm LNG carriers.
The nine QC-Max vessels will be constructed at China’s Hudong-Zhonghua.
Nakilat now has 36 LNG carriers and four LPG/ammonia carriers on order.
The total vessel count in the company’s fleet will reach 114 once all the vessels are delivered, including 105 LNG carriers.
