Nippon Express Revenue Surges 67.3 Percent

Forwarder Nippon Express saw net profit surge 67.3 percent in nine months ending Dec. 31, as the end of a retirement-related accounting loss boosted earnings on flat revenue.

Japan’s largest international forwarder’s profit rose to $222.41 million on $15.97 billion revenue in the April-December fiscal period. The group operating profit rose 3.8 percent to $340.47 million.

Nippon Express attributed the sharp rise in group net profit in the April-December period to the end of an extraordinary loss, a result of the implementation of the accounting standards for asset retirement obligations. The company had booked such an accounting standards-related extraordinary loss of $98.75 million in the same period of 2010.

As part of extraordinary losses in the first nine months of fiscal 2011, Nippon Express booked a payment of $21.24 million under an antitrust case settlement agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice over international air cargo service charges.

Of the $15.97 billion group revenue in the April-December period, $420.67 million came from group companies in the Americas, down 0.7 percent from a year earlier. Of the $340.47 million group operating profit, $12.42 million came from group companies in the Americas, down 23.7 percent from a year earlier.

“The business environment surrounding the Japanese logistics industry remained harsh in the April-December period,” the company said. “Demand for international freight transportation dropped in some quarters. Demand for domestic freight transportation was still on the decline.”

Nippon Express left unchanged its original group revenue and profit forecasts for the whole of fiscal 2011, which were announced on May 20.

The company’s full-year projections are: $21.32 billion in group revenue, up 0.2 percent from fiscal 2010; $460.53 million in group operating profit, up 10.7 percent from fiscal 2010; and $276.32 million in group net profit, up 145.9 percent from fiscal 2010.

Contact Hisane Masaki at yiu45535@nifty.com.