APL loses $8 million in first quarter

APL loses $8 million in first quarter    NOL, the Singapore-based parent company of APL, reported $1.3 million in first quarter operating profit, though APL suffered a loss in the period.
   The group performance improved on a $74 million loss in the same period in 2010.
   Revenue increased 16 percent to $2.4 billion. NOL's liner business accounted for $2.1 billion in revenue, a 15 percent increase, while APL sustained an $8 million operating loss in the quarter. Last year, APL lost $89 million in the first quarter.
   The company said its container volume increased 9 percent to 764,000 TEUs, while average revenue per FEU increased 3 percent to $2,598. Vessel utilization in the first quarter was 92 percent.

Meng

   “We lifted higher container volumes in the Asia/Europe and intra-Asia trade lanes during the first quarter, and freight rates improved in the transpacific,” said APL President Eng Aik Meng. “But our emphasis must remain on operating efficiency, as well as slow steaming our ships to conserve fuel and counteract the effect of rising fuel prices, which were 28 percent higher per metric ton in the first quarter of 2011 than they were in 2010.”
   APL Logistics' profit increased 40 percent to $21 million, on revenue that increased 24 percent to $368 million.