ULTR is just a terrible business, imo. Lot's of capital needed, mediocre management ( at that is how it looks to me, based on their execution), impacted by weather, weak balance sheet with lot's of debt.
I don't think they should even be in the worldwide offshore supply business, they lack scale, have to compete against much larger and very well financed players and they are at a disadvantage in terms of cost of capital (high Brazilian interest rates). Also, based on my experience, the barge business almost never has high profit margins to begin with, it's sort of like the trucking business. Rails are better since they own their transport ways, so competition is less.
Also forget about ships making up the lost volume, this is only going to happen to a small extend. I believe that Paul at some point mentioned a Brazilian railroad and shipping business. That is a better one to look at, if you are interested in Brazilian infrastructure plays. |
