Joseph Bonney, Senior Editor | Aug 08, 2012 9:12AM EDT
APL posted core earnings before interest and taxes of $7 million in the second quarter, the carrier’s first profitable quarter since the end of 2010, as parent NOL Group cited improved freight rates and cost cuts.
Singapore-based NOL reported a group-wide second quarter core EBIT of $16 million, compared with a year-earlier loss of $43 million. One-time charges, largely for a restructuring that eliminated several hundred jobs, produced a net loss of $118 million, compared with a year-earlier net loss of $57 million.
“The one-time charges were difficult but necessary,” said CEO Ng Yat Chung. “We need a more efficient organization and a more modern, cost-competitive fleet to deal with the oversupply situation in the container shipping industry.”
Without the $112 million in one-time charges, NOL’s second quarter net loss would have been $6 million.
APL’s revenue rose 7 percent to $2 billion in the first quarter. The carrier’s volume rose 4 percent to 720,000 40-foot-equivalent units. Average revenue per FEU rose 3 percent to $2,615.
The carrier cut empty-container repositioning costs by $19 million in the first half of 2012.
NOL said that through two quarters of 2012 it has achieved $225 million in expense reductions toward a full-year goal of $500 million.
Improved fuel efficiency accounted for much of the cost savings, the company said. NOL said it cut fuel use 7 percent in the first half of this year, despite a 4 percent increase in cargo volume.
APL Logistics, NOL’s supply chain management business, reported second quarter core EBIT of $9 million as revenue rose 15 percent to $361 million.
NOL offered a cautious outlook for the rest of the year, saying its financial performance “will depend on freight rates, global economic position, overcapacity in container shipping and fuel prices.”
Contact Joseph Bonney at jbonney@joc.com. Follow him on Twitter @josephbonney.
