OOCL sets strong pace in 1st quarter

OOCL sets strong pace in 1st quarter Hong Kong’s Orient Overseas (International) Ltd., parent of container line OOCL, today reported double-digit revenue and box volume gains in its first quarter 2008 update.
   OOCL’s revenue for the three months period increased 27.9 percent year-on-year to $1.39 billion from $1.08 billion. Average revenue per TEU was up 14.5 percent. Global liftings rose 11.7 percent to 1.16 million TEUs. The overall load factor was down 2.6 percent from the same period in 2007 amid a 15.4 percent increase in loadable capacity.
   The carrier’s biggest gain in revenue during the first quarter came in the Asia/Europe market, which posted a 39.9 percent rise to $343.5 million, despite flat growth in box volumes at 191,904 TEUs.
   OOCL’s quarterly revenue from the transpacific trade improved 19.6 percent to $496.6 million with volumes rising 12.4 percent to 329,496 TEUs.
   Transatlantic revenue rose 19.1 percent to $169 million. Volume in the trade gained 11.5 percent to 99,713 TEUs.
   Revenue from the combined intra-Asia/Australasia trades jumped 34.3 percent to $378.2 million following a volume increase of 16.1 percent to 538,036 TEUs.
   For the whole of 2007, OOCL’s revenue increased 21.1 percent to $5.15 billion from $4.25 billion in 2006. OOCL transported a total of 4.60 million TEUs, up 18.2 percent.
   OOIL said the first quarter update is based on internal records and has not been reviewed by the auditor.