Stevedoring Services Ltd. suffered a 45 percent fall in profit for the six months ending September 30 due to a loss of stripping revenues and lower cargo volumes. The cargo handlers posted a net profit of $371,940 or 30 cents per share for the six months ending September 30, 2008 compared to $576,877 or 46 cents per share for the same period last year.

Revenue was also down 14.18 percent from $6.4 million in 2007 to $5.6 million this year, while expenses dropped 11.28 percent to $5.2 million from $5.8 million over the respective periods.

Stevedoring Services said the decline in revenue was down to less amounts of cargo and the loss of stripping revenues and cruise ship tie-up income. Cargo shed No.7 in Hamilton harbour was closed to small-scale importers at the start of this year and less-than-container-load cargo containers are removed to one of the new Local Inland Clearing Facilities for stripping. The company also believes the indications are that the coming months will see further reductions in cargo volume as the local and global economies continue to slow.