“K” LINE POSTS MIXED FINANCIAL RESULTS

“K” LINE POSTS MIXED FINANCIAL RESULTS

“K” LINE POSTS MIXED FINANCIAL RESULTS

   Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, Japan’s third-largest shipping group, reported a 72-percent fall in its consolidated net income for the financial year ended March 31, to Yen 2 billion ($16 million), but said that its operating income before exceptional charges improved.
   The latest annual net income compares with net earnings of Yen 7 billion in the previous fiscal year.
   Operating income for the 2000-2001 financial year was Yen 36 billion ($291 million), up 34 percent on the Yen 27 billion result in the previous year.
   Consolidated group revenue rose 15 percent during the same period, to Yen 558 billion ($4.5 billion).
   “K” Line said its net income fell 71.5 percent after deduction of a special account for profit and loss related to a lump-sum charge for retirement benefits. The shipping group cited a Yen 15-billion ($118 million) cost due to “a change of retirement benefit accounting standards being amortized on a lump-sum, and deduction of corporate/inhabitant/enterprise taxes.”
   “Both operating revenues and ordinary income successfully reached record highs,” the company said.
   Commenting on its container shipping activities, “K” Line said that cargo movement on the Asia/North America route was very brisk during the six-month period to September 2000, but “could not develop so much (in the following six-month period) due to the slowdown of the U.S. economy in addition to seasonal factors.” In the transatlantic trade, restoration of freight rates “could not reach a satisfactory level, despite cargo movement being so active,” “K” Line said.
   “K” Line reported favorable market conditions for its bulk and tanker shipping businesses.
   Commenting on trading prospects for its current financial year to March 2002, “K” Line said that the European, Asian and Japanese economies “will stay under the influence of the slackening U.S. economy.”
   “In every segment of industry, there is worry and concern that (the) management environment will worsen,” the Japanese group warned. “K” Line added that it is “committed to propelling rationalization in each business unit.”