MOL LOWERS PROFIT FORECAST

MOL LOWERS PROFIT FORECAST    Mitsui O.S.K. Lines has scaled down its profit forecast for its current fiscal year ending March 31.
   The Japanese shipping group said that its net income for the current fiscal year is now expected to be Yen9 billion ($70 million), not Yen15 billion ($116 million) as predicted last November.
   In the previous fiscal year, ended in March 2001, Mitsui O.S.K. Lines earned a net income of Yen11 billion ($88 million).
   The Japanese shipping group also revised downwards its ordinary income forecast for the current year, to Yen35 billion ($271 million), from Yen40 billion ($310 million) predicted last November.
   Mitsui O.S.K. Lines has maintained its forecast of a group consolidated revenue of Yen910 billion ($7.1 billion) for the current year, up from Yen888 billion in the 2000/2001 fiscal year.
   “We regret to announce that the large decline in the Japanese stock market this year has resulted in larger than expected losses for MOL,” the company said. “A depressed shipping market, exacerbated by a delay in the recovery of world economies, the disposal loss of idle fixed assets, and the poor financial performance of our Japanese subsidiary companies have also had a negative impact on our financial results.”
   MOL warned that it will “almost certainly need” to reduce the Yen6 dividend per share announced in November 2001 to Yen5, the same rate as the previous fiscal year.
   In February, fellow Japanese shipping group “K” Line also announced a reduction of its profit forecast for the fiscal year ending March 31.