STX Europe has report a net loss of NOK 37 million on revenues of NOK 6.6 billion for the its second quarter ended June 30, 2009, compared to a net loss of NOK 134 million on revenues of NK 7.9 billion for the same period of 2008.

For the first six months of 2009, STX has reported a loss of NOK 217 million on revenues of NOK 15.4 billion, compared to a loss of NOK 11 million on revenues of NOK 15.4 billion last year.

During the first six months of 2009, STX delivered 22 vessels, of which 11 were delivered in the second quarter. The order intake was NOK 4 billion in the quarter, up from NOK 592 million last year. The order backlog at the end of the period was NOK 35.4 billion comprising 59 vessels.

The cruise and ferry division posted a loss of NOK 73 million (EBITDA) on revenues of NOK 3.7 billion for the second quarter of this year, compared to income of NOK 161 million (EBITDA) on revenues of NOK 4.9 billion last year.

According to the company, the results reflected increasing capacity costs in both Finland and France, as well as costs related to worker layoffs. In addition, some projects have had a negative impact on the results, STX stated, although the majority of ongoing projects are proceeding as expected.

At the end of the quarter, the cruise and ferry division had an order backlog of NOK 14.4 billion, consisting of 10 vessels, including three ferries, one helicopter carrier, one offshore patrol vessel and five cruise ships.

STX said that it believes a gradual improvement in the cruise market will occur over the next 12 months, leading to more interest in ordering new and large vessels.

At the same time, the company is seeking to diversify its building to more ice-breaking tonnage, tugs, other offshore vessels and constructions to make it less vulnerable to the fluctuations in the cruise and ferry markets.