Three Japanese Carriers Post Losses

Japan’s three largest shipping lines, NYK Line, MOL and “K” Line, on Tuesday reported losses for the first half of their fiscal years ended Sept. 30 as the global recession cut shipping volumes and rates in all sectors of their business.

NYK and “K” Line forecast continuing losses for the full year while MOL is still forecasting a full-year profit, albeit much lower than its previous forecast.

NYK Line posted a loss of $318.7 million for the first half, compared to a profit of $991 million for the same period last year.

NYK’s revenue for the period fell 44 percent to $8.6 billion from $15.4 billion the previous year.

MOL lost $108 million in the first half year, compared with a $1.4 billion profit in the same period a year earlier. MOL’s revenue for the first half of the year was $6.9 billion, down 43 percent from $11.9 billion a year earlier.

“K” Line lost $469.6 million in the six-month period, a swing of more than $1 billion from the profit of $555 million it earned in the year-earlier period, as its revenue slid to $4.4 billion, down 46 percent from almost $8 billion last year.

“K” Line said its trans-Pacific container volume dropped by 2 percent year-on-year as loaded containers shipped eastbound from Asia to the United States dropped by 11 percent, while westbound loaded containers increased by 18 percent. It said loaded volumes on its Asia-Europe trade dropped by 6 percent year-over-year as volumes to Europe fell by 21 percent and to Asia by 32 percent.

NYK lowered its forecast for the full year ending March 2010 to a net loss of $293 million from an earlier estimate of a $54 million loss, and lowered its revenue outlook to $18.2 billion from $18.6 billion.

“K” Line said its operating results for the full year would fall below its previous projections, which were already for a full-year loss. It said it would delay deliveries of ships on order and cancel some charters.

MOL still forecast it would earn a profit for the full year, but slashed its forecast for the full year ending March 31, 2010 to $21.7 million from its previous forecast of $326 million.

Contact Peter T. Leach at pleach@joc.com.