WILHELMSEN REPORTS “UNSATISFACTORY” LINER/CAR-CARRIER RESULTS

WILHELMSEN REPORTS “UNSATISFACTORY” LINER/CAR-CARRIER RESULTS

WILHELMSEN REPORTS “UNSATISFACTORY” LINER/CAR-CARRIER RESULTS

   Wilh. Wilhelmsen ASA, the diversified Scandinavian shipping group, reported a net group income for the third quarter of $5 million, down from $18 million in the same period of last year.
   The group said that the liner and car-carrier operations of Wallenius Wilhelmsen Lines, in which it has a 50-percent stake, “continued to show weak results,” and its tanker arm “clearly weakened by comparison with the second quarter.”
   By contrast, the group’s international ship agency business Barber International and its ship management arm Barwil continued to do well, Wilh. Wilhelmsen said.
   Group operating income for the Wilh. Wilhelmsen for July-September came to $19 million, down from $28 million in the corresponding quarter of 2000. Gross revenue slipped from $168 million to $148 million over the same period.
   Wilh. Wilhelmsen said that the decline in financial markets, particularly during September, required “a substantial write-down of the portfolio under management,” but financial markets have recovered somewhat since Sept. 30.
   Broken down by business segments, the Wilh. Wilhelmsen group posted a third-quarter operating income of $16 million on liner and car-carrier activities, down from $26 million a year earlier, and revenue of $164 million, down from $178 million.
   The tanker arm made an operating loss of about $200,000, compared to an operating profit of $9 million in the year-earlier period.
   Barwil earned an operating income of $1 million, compared to a deficit of about $600,000 in the same quarter last year.
   Barber International posted a $2-million operating income, up from $1 million at the same time last year.
   “Results from the liner and car carrier business are unsatisfactory,” the group commented. “Performance continues to be affected by relatively low car shipments from the Far East to Europe and North America. At the same time, container rates are under considerable pressure, and earnings from this cargo segment declined significantly in this third quarter.”
   For the first nine months of the year, Wilh. Wilhelmsen posted a net income of $24 million, down from $31 million in the same period last year, as revenue decreased to $456 million, from $503 million last year. Operating income for the nine-month period increased to $61 million, from $55 million last year.
   On August 26, the roll-on/roll-off carrier “Tampa” rescued 438 shipwrecked people in the Indian Ocean off Australia. The extraordinary costs associated with this incident have been included in the figures for the third quarter, the shipping group said.
   Commenting on trading prospects, Wilh. Wilhelmsen said that future results depend primarily on developments in the car carrier and ro-ro markets.
   “Global economic and political conditions are creating great uncertainty over the development of these markets in the time to come,” it said. The impact on the group does not seem to be particularly noticeable in the short term, but the international economic situation will influence world trade in a longer perspective and thereby also transport needs and routes, the group warned.
   The greatest uncertainty relates to car and container shipments, while consignments of ro-ro and non-containerizable cargoes “are expected to show a more stable pattern,” it added.