Japanese lines report higher profits, cautious about second half

Japanese lines report higher profits, cautious about second half The three major Japanese carriers reported higher first half earnings for their fiscal years ending Sept. 30, while offering caution about the economic slowdown.
   The companies said profits and revenues for the first half of 2008 compared to the first half of 2007 were:
   ' NYK Line, net profit 91.3 billion yen ($881 million), up 66 percent; revenue 1.4 trillion yen ($13.7 billion), up 13 percent.
   ' MOL, net profit 124 billion yen ($1.2 billion), up 42 percent; revenue    1.09 trillion yen ($10.5 billion), up 16 percent.
   ' “K” Line, net profit 51.2 billion yen ($494 million), up 16 percent; revenue 735.5 billion yen ($7.1 billion), up 14 percent.
   NYK said, “Revenues in the liner trade increased over the same period last year due to a recovery of freight rates to a certain degree on North American routes and a year-on-year rise in freight volume amid low transport volumes on container routes overall. However, further increases in bunker oil prices led to a significant decline in performance compared with the same period last year. Meanwhile, we have been trying to cut costs through reductions in fuel consumption and other measures.”
   For the rest of the year NYK noted “dry bulk market levels have plummeted since the latter half of the second quarter, and we face concerns of a slowdown in container transport volumes due to the worldwide economic downturn as well as uncertainty regarding the effect of that downturn on non-shipping segments such as logistics, and air freight. Meanwhile, bunker oil prices are trending downward and freight rates for containerships have recovered to a certain degree. Given these factors, we expect full-year results to remain mostly unchanged compared to last fiscal year.”
   MOL said the “dry bulk market has been sinking fast in step with declining stock prices and commodity markets since the global financial panic began in early October,” It added “we expect the dry bulker market to undergo a continued correction for some time to come.
   “In the containership segment, we have taken steps to reduce the tonnage on North American and European routes, which means we have already responded to the decline in cargo movement.”