Japan-based Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL), Nippon Yusen Kaisha (NYK), and Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha (“K” Line) have released official reports on their financial performance for the first nine months of their 2013 fiscal year.
MOL reported a net income of JPY29.5 billion (US$280 million) from April 1, 2013 to December 31, 2013 against a loss of JPY58.7 billion for the same period the previous year, largely due to stable profits in the dry bulk segment.
In the container ship division, however, the company drew a loss for the first nine months of its fiscal year, which it attributed to a freight market marked by “a continued downswing from the beginning of 2013 due to an increase in deliveries of large containerships.”
Total revenue for the covered three-quarter period is JPY1.27 billion compared to JPY1.11 billion the previous year.
The company is forecasting a JPY57-billion profit for the full year ending March 31, 2014.
NYK also recorded an increase in net income to JPY28.3 billion (US$288 million) for the first nine-month period of its fiscal year 2013 from the JPY3.1 billion profit posted for the same period in the previous fiscal year.
This is despite a provision of JPY13.5 billion for an anti-trust rate-setting probe into its car carrier business.
Its earnings were boosted by the strong performance of its dry bulk unit, as the container shipping division struggled against overcapacity with the continued delivery of ultra-large containerships to the Asia-Europe trade lane.
Meanwhile, “K” Line said it made a profit of JPY15.7 billion in the first nine months of its fiscal year, an increase from the JPY9.4 billion registered for the same period last year.
The carrier boosted earnings despite setting aside JPY5.7 billion in relation to anti-monopoly investigations into its operations in the third quarter of fiscal year 2013.
The carrier’s bulk shipping segment was also the major contributor to the profit surge, as its container shipping business registered a JPY1.1 billion loss.
Photo: Loco Steve
