Prudent Guy

Navios Maritime Poised For Substantial Growth

(I asked this question on the Y! Finance boards as well - nothing doing there, so thought I might ask here.)

Before I get to my point, one thing. I'm currently long NM. I like the growth prospects, I like the management, and they seem to be going in the right direction.

That said, something concerns me - margins.

Why does NM have inferior margins to what seems to be all of its competition? Does anyone know? I've sifted through everything I can find and don't see a good indication.

Note - these are taken from my broker's fundamental #'s, I think they are more recent that Y! Finance. I'll only list three other drybulk shippers here.

NM
Gross Margin (TTM) 30.2%
Net Profit Margin (TTM) 13.4%
Operating Margin (TTM) 23.5%
Pretax Margin (TTM) 14.1%

DSX
Gross Margin (TTM) 78.1%
Net Profit Margin (TTM) 56.4%
Operating Margin (TTM) 59.7%
Pretax Margin (TTM) 56.4%

GNK
Gross Margin (TTM) 79.9%
Net Profit Margin (TTM) 42.7%
Operating Margin (TTM) 54.3%
Pretax Margin (TTM) 42.7%

DRYS
Gross Margin (TTM) 93.6%
Net Profit Margin (TTM) 60.1%
Operating Margin (TTM) 73.1%
Pretax Margin (TTM) 60.1%

What gives?