Hisane Masaki | Oct 28, 2009 10:53AM EDT
Group net profit for Japanese international freight forwarder Yusen Air & Sea Service plunged 89.5 percent to $2.75 million in the first half of fiscal 2009, which started in April.
The Tokyo-based company is the core logistics arm of Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha (NYK Line), Japan's largest shipping firm by sales.
YAS saw its group operating revenue tumble 43.7 percent in the April-September period from a year earlier to $574.40 million. Group operating profit nosedived 96.4 percent to $1.37 million, while group pre-tax profit plummeted 83.1 percent to $7.65 million.
The company did not give figures for the July-September quarter alone.
YAS said the freight market situation remained sluggish in the Untied States and Europe during the July-September quarter. But the company's profits in the first half of fiscal 2009 were still sharply higher than forecast in late July due to "aggressive cost-cutting efforts" and "the movement toward a recovery in the cargo markets in the Asian region, including Japan, led by flat-panel televisions and electronics parts," YAS said.
Despite the poor financial results in the first half of fiscal 2009, the company left unchanged its revenue and profit forecasts for the whole of the current fiscal year, which were originally announced in late April.
The company expects to generate $1.32 billion in revenue, down 28.3 percent from fiscal 2008, and $20.88 million in net profit, up 75.4 percent.
Contact Hisane Masaki at yiu45535@nifty.com.