Hisane Masaki, Special Correspondent | Aug 06, 2012 9:07AM EDT
Nippon Express Co., Japan’s largest international freight forwarder, said that its net profit sank 8.5 percent in the first quarter of fiscal 2012, which started on April 1, from a year earlier to $65.16 million on a consolidated basis.
The Tokyo-based company’s group revenue in the April-June quarter edged up 0.2 percent year-on-year to $5.10 billion. Its group operating profit rose 13.5 percent to $106.54 million.
Nippon Express attributed the drop in group net profit in the April-June period largely to a sharply lower profit from the sale of fixed assets. The company made a profit of $1.95 million from the sale of fixed assets in the April-June period, compared with a profit of $18.48 million in the same three-month period last year.
Nippon Express boasts one of the world’s largest global logistics networks.
Of the $5.10 billion group revenue in the April-June period, $150.80 million came from group companies in the Americas, up 13.7 percent from a year earlier. Of the $106.54 million group operating profit, $5.21 million came from group companies in the Americas, a nearly ninefold increase from a year earlier.
Looking back on the first quarter of the current fiscal year, Nippon Express said in an earnings release, “The Japanese economy continued to show signs of a recovery, with industrial production and corporate capital investment picking up amid strong demand related to reconstruction efforts from the Great East Japan Earthquake.”
“But the outlook for the Japanese economy remained uncertain due to such factors as a slowdown in overseas economies and concerns about possible domestic electricity supply shortages,” the company said.
“Under such economic circumstances, the Japanese logistics industry recovered at a moderate pace,” it said.
Nippon Express left unchanged its group revenue and profit forecasts for the whole of fiscal 2012, which were announced in May.
The company’s full-year projections are: $21.07 billion in group revenue, up 1.3 percent from fiscal 2011; $536.40 million in group operating profit, up 12.0 percent from fiscal 2011; $383.14 million in group net profit, up 11.3 percent from fiscal 2011.
Contact Hisane Masaki at yiu45535@nifty.com.
