Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL) revised downward its earlier forecast of its net loss for full-year 2012 ending March 31, 2013. The Japanese carrier ascribed the anticipated bigger loss to a reversal in deferred taxes and a less favorable business climate from what it had foreseen in its previous outlook.
In a statement, MOL said it estimates a net loss of JPY177 billion (US$1.9 billion) for FY 2012, from its previously predicted net loss of JPY28 billion.
The company said the revised outlook was “due to the slowdown in the dry bulker and tanker markets, a delay in improvement of profits in the containership market, and other factors, compared to the business climate assumed at the time the previous outlook was announced.”
The higher net loss was also due to a reversal in the deferment of tax assets and the allocation of costs in the fourth quarter of structural reforms to be initiated in FY 2013. These reforms would include the sale of vessels leading to about JPY101 billion in extraordinary loss for the last quarter of FY 2012.
For the first nine months of the fiscal year, the company booked JPY58.7 billion in net loss.
For its outlook on FY 2013 ending March 31, 2014, the company, Japan’s biggest carrier, hopes for an improvement of about JPY40 billion in profit arising from the coming business reforms in its dry bulker and tanker businesses.
For the third quarter of 2012 ending December 31, the Tokyo-based liner operator said it posted a net loss of $678.1 million, with a quarterly revenue of $12.9 billion.
Meanwhile, compatriot shipping firms NYK Line and Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha (“K” Line) had a better year than MOL, swinging back into black for the first three quarters of FY 2012.
NYK Line logged a profit of $39.8 million in these quarters for FY 2012 ended December 31, 2012. For the full fiscal year ending March 31, 2013, it expects a profit of $73.6 million.
“K” Line also realized a profit, amounting to $108.6 million, for the first three quarters of it fiscal year ended December 31, 2012.
Photo: Ron Cogswell
