P&O NEDLLOYD REPORTS BREAK-EVEN RESULT FOR THIRD QUARTER

   P&O Nedlloyd Container Line, the Anglo-Dutch shipping line, reported a break-even pre-tax result for the third quarter, following deficits in the first two quarters of the year.
    The break-even figure compares with a pre-tax profit of $7 million in the third quarter of last year.
    The operating result for the latest quarter was a profit of $16 million, down from the year-earlier operating income of $30 million. However, the latest quarter’s operating result was an improvement over the $18-million operating loss of the second quarter of the year.
    Revenue increased by 8 percent, to $957 million, from $886 million in the third quarter of last year. The rise in revenue for the quarter was due to an 11-percent jump in traffic volumes, to 727,100 TEUs, while average revenues dropped by 3 percent, to $1,317 per TEU, from $1,354 per TEU at the same time last year.
    P&O Nedlloyd said that its third-quarter results were affected by a $12-million rise in bunker costs and by additional expenses required to make computer systems comply with the year 2000.
    Tim Harris, chief executive officer of the company, said that P&O Nedlloyd will introduce service centers, modern information systems and e-commerce measures to cut costs by $100 million on an annualized basis. The savings will be implemented by the end of next year, with further cost cuts planned in the year 2001.
    For the nine-month period ended Sept. 30, P&O Nedlloyd reported a pre-tax loss of $68 million, compared to a deficit of $23 million in the same period of 1998.
    The operating result was a loss of $24 million, as compared to an operating profit of $26 million last year. Revenue was $1.29 billion, down from $1.38 billion.
    The latest results indicate that P&O Nedlloyd is likely to post another annual net deficit this year, the third since the merger of P&O Containers and Nedlloyd in January 1997.