Hanjin Shipping cut its net loss by nearly 69 percent to KRW85.9 billion (US$77 million) in the third quarter of 2011 as a result of increased container volume, operating profit of its bulk shipping business, and depreciation of the Korean won.
The third-quarter loss brought the accumulated losses for the year of South Korea’s largest box line to KRW500 billion ($450 million), and records show it has made gains over the huge losses of the second quarter.
Revenue reached KRW2.47 trillion ($2.21 billion), up 3.2 percent from the last quarter, reducing quarter-on-quarter operating loss by 20.6 percent to KRW135.1 billion ($121 million).
Despite a supply reduction in container business, total sales rose 3.2 percent quarter-on-quarter owing to a 1.7 percent increase in container transport volume and 7.7 percent improvement in bulk freight rates, the company said.
Operating loss also improved by 20.6 percent QoQ due to the paring down of supply in loss-making container trade lanes and of the operating profit achieved by the bulk division.
The bulk division saw a 216.8 percent gain in operating profit to KRW32 billion ($28.6 million) year-on-year arising from a freight rate recovery in the third quarter and a 7.6 percent growth in cargo volume.
For the fourth quarter, the carrier said its container division “will focus on recovering freight rates by service rationalisation as a preparation for the expected imbalance between demand and supply especially during the traditional slack season.”
Photo by anaulin
