MOL TO ANNOUNCE HIGHER PROFITS

MOL TO ANNOUNCE HIGHER PROFITS    Mitsui O.S.K. Lines expects to announce higher-than-expected profit results for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2000, its president said.
   “The hard work of everyone in the liner division finally paid off with a goal we have dreamed of for many years — a return to profitability,” said Masaharu Ikuta, the outgoing president of the Japanese group.
   Ikuta said that MOL reduced administrative costs and maximized synergies following its merger with Navix.
   “We are still calculating the financial results for fiscal year 1999, but it was a difficult year for the MOL-Navix division, with a sluggish tramp market in addition to external factors such as high fuel prices and ‘endaka’, the ongoing appreciation of the Japanese yen,” he said.
   Ikuta said that MOL’s liner division “must build on the gains of recent years to ensure stable long-term profitability.”
   Commenting on the group’s logistics activities, Ikuta said that MOL is reviewing its plans, based on a careful examination of its past performance.
“We still see this area as one of the pillars of our future success,” he added.
   In its fiscal year ended March 31, 1998, MOL had reported a consolidated net income of Yen7 billion ($58 million) on consolidated revenues of Yen809 billion ($6.7 billion).