Guangzhou Shipyard International has braced investors for a sharp fall in first quarter profit.

Hong Kong-listed GSI says its bottom line for the period will come in at around half the CNY 174.98m ($27.72m) clocked up at the same stage in 2011.

“During the first quarter of 2012, as affected by the decline of the shipbuilding market, the prices of the ships under construction dropped sharply as compared to the same period last year, which resulted in the decrease in profits of the company derived from shipbuilding,” a statement explained.

GSI banked CNY 606.59m last year, down from CNY 835.24m in 2010. The yard aims to clinch 15 new orders in 2012 and deliver 23 vessels.

It was sitting on contracts for 42 vessels with total tonnage of 1,730,000 dwt at the close of 2011.