Hisane Masaki, Special Correspondent | May 09, 2012 12:28PM EDT
Nippon Express Co., Japan’s largest international freight forwarder, said that its net profit surged a whopping 215.5 percent in fiscal 2011, which ended on March 31, from the previous fiscal year to $336.88 million on a consolidated basis.
The Tokyo-based company’s group revenue edged up 0.7 percent in fiscal 2011 from a year earlier to $20.38 billion. Its group operating profit rose 18.6 percent to $468.75 million.
Nippon Express attributed the sharp rise in group net profit in fiscal 2011 to the disappearance of an extraordinary loss resulting from the application of the accounting standards for asset retirement obligations.
The company had booked such an accounting standards-related extraordinary loss of $93.81 million in fiscal 2010.
As part of extraordinary losses in fiscal 2011, Nippon Express booked a payment of $20.18 million under an antitrust case settlement agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice over international air cargo service charges.
Nippon Express boasts the world’s largest global logistics network.
Of the $20.38 billion group revenue in fiscal 2011, $537.04 million came from group companies in the Americas, up 0.4 percent from a year earlier. Of the $468.75 million group operating profit, $21.03 million came from group companies in the Americas, up 6.2 percent from a year earlier.
Looking back on the last fiscal year, Nippon Express said in an earnings release, “Japan’s industrial production and exports slumped temporarily after the devastating earthquake and tsunami that hit the northeastern part of the country in March 2011.”
“But with the restoration of supply chains disrupted by the twin natural disasters, the Japanese economy began to recover at a moderate pace,” the company said.
“However, the Japanese economic situation remained unstable due to the sharp appreciation of the yen and a slowdown in overseas economies caused primarily by the deep European debt crisis,” the company said.
“Under such economic circumstances, the business environment surrounding the Japanese logistics industry remained generally harsh in the last fiscal year,” the company said.
Nippon Express also announced its group revenue and profit forecasts for fiscal 2012: $20.63 billion in group revenue, up 1.3 percent from fiscal 2011; $525.00 million in group operating profit, up 12.0 percent from fiscal 2011; $375.00 million in group net profit, up 11.3 percent from fiscal 2011.
Contact Hisane Masaki at yiu45535@nifty.com.