Announcing its results for the fourth quarter of last year, the group said operating profit came in at RM381.4 mill, which was 39.3% or RM246.9 mill lower than the 4Q17 operating profit of RM628.3 mill.
Group revenue was weaker in 4Q18 by 3.1% coming to RM2.39 bill from RM2.47 bill in the same quarter of 2017.
Net profit, however quadrupled to RM338.7 mill from RM68.2 mill in 4Q17, which was hit by a RM553.9 mill impairment charge on shipping assets.
In its outlook for 2019, MISC said the recently announced OPEC-led production cuts, as well as geopolitical uncertainty, is expected to weigh on demand for sea oil transportation.
While the sustainability of LNG spot rates seen in late 2018 remain uncertain, MISC's long-term charters will maintain a steady performance for its LNG shipping division over the current financial year, the group said.
In the offshore segment, MISC will be actively pursuing an increasing number of FPSO contract awards in the next few years.
Meanwhile, the heavy engineering sector is not expecting further delays by shipowners to drydock and will pursue a number of long-term offshore fabrication frame agreements to contribute positively to revenue in 2019 and beyond.
For the full financial year, MISC's net profit fell 33.8% to RM1.31 bill while operating profit dropped 45.79% to RM1.47 bill from RM2.71 bill recorded in 2017.
The 12-month revenue was RM8.78 bill, a decrease of 12.79% from RM10.07 bill in 2017.