Hisane Masaki | Feb 01, 2010 9:57AM EST
Nippon Express, Japan's largest freight forwarder, said its net profit declined 18.7 percent in the first nine months of fiscal 2009, which started in April, from a year earlier to $143.7 million on a consolidated basis.
The Tokyo-based company's group sales totaled $13 billion in the April-December period, down 18.2 percent from the same nine-month period of 2008. The company's group operating profit inched up 0.2 percent to $311.9 million.
Revenue in the Americas fell 37.5 percent to $311.6 million, creating an operating loss of $100,000 compared with an operating profit of $24.4 million a year earlier.
Nippon Express attributed the poor financial results to the long slump in demand for freight services, especially at home.
"Demand for international freight services shows signs of a recovery, helped by governments' economic stimulus measures, but demand for domestic freight services is still on the decline," Nippon Express said in its earnings release.
The company’s sales forecast for the whole of fiscal 2009 was unchanged at $17.1 billion, down 15.9 percent from fiscal 2008. Nippon Express forecast operating profit up 4.4 percent to $388.9 million and net profit down 30.8 percent to $116.7 million.
Nippon Express has operations in more than 90 countries around the world. According to the company, the Nippon Express group is the world's second-largest international air freight forwarder and the world's seventh-largest comprehensive distribution company.
Contact Hisane Masaki at yiu45535@nifty.com.
