P&O NEDLLOYD BACK IN THE RED WITH $32-MILLION LOSS

    P&O Nedlloyd Container Line went back into the red in a second quarter, with a pre-tax deficit of $32 million for the quarter.
    The loss for the latest quarter compares with a pre-tax profit of $9 million in the second quarter of 1998.
    P&O Nedlloyd said that the main reason for the loss was the decline in average revenue per container. Rates dropped in the transatlantic and north/south trades and there was a greater proportion of lower-rated cargoes such as those in the Europe-to-Asia trade, the Anglo-Dutch carrier said.
    Average revenue for the quarter was $1,258 per TEU, down 9 percent on the second quarter of last year. Traffic carried increased by 12 percent, to 706,100 TEUs. Total revenue rose by just 2 percent, to $888 million, from $868 million in the second quarter of 1998.
    The operating result before interest and tax for the latest quarter was a loss of $18 million, compared to a profit of $22 million in the same period of last year.
    For the first six months of the year, P&O Nedlloyd reported a pre-tax loss of $68 million on revenue of $1.72 billion, compared to a loss of $30 million on revenue of $1.64 billion last year.