Japanese shipping groups K Line and MOL have joined the growing list
Japanese shipping groups K Line and MOL have joined the growing list of carriers that sailed into the red in 2011.
K Line recorded losses of 42.16 billion yuan (US$542.4 million) in the first nine months of its financial year.
The line has revised its forecast for the full year (made at the end of October) from a loss of 32 billion yuan to one of 54 billion yuan. In the nine-month period, revenue fell 3.8%, compared with the same period last year, to 732.88 billion yuan , but its operating result (ebit) before exceptional items crashed from a profit of 62.3 billion yuan to a loss of 31.6 billion yuan.
K Line blamed the economic slowdown, increased fuel prices, the high value of the yen and an excess of capacity.
In its forecast for the remainder of the financial year, to 31 March, K LIne said: “The container business will remain uncertain for the time being because of the sluggish global economy.”
Over the first three quarters of its financial year, which also started on 1 April 2011, MOL group revenue fell 9% on the same period in 2010, to 1.07 billion yuan (US$14 million), but its operating result (ebit) collapsed from a profit of 108.3 billion yuan to a loss of 18.37 billion yuan.
MOL’s management also laid the blame for its poor result on the economy. The “considerable losses” in the container division were due to rising fuel costs and too much vessel capacity chasing too little cargo, especially in east-west trade lanes.
Source: IFW
