NYK Line, Japan’s largest shipping operator, posted a net loss of $187.5 million for its fiscal year ended March 31, compared with a loss of $556 million a year earlier, as rates and volume began to recover in container shipping and air cargo.
Revenue fell 30 percent to $18.2 billion, but most of the drop came during the fiscal year’s first half, when cargo volume plummeted during the worst of the recession. NYK said tanker rates and car-carrier volume slumped along with container rates.
NYK said its full-year revenue was in line with its preliminary forecast in January but that the $187.5 million net loss was an improvement over the $310 million loss forecast in January.
The company said a recovering global economy has produced rising container volume, improved supply-demand ratio and higher rates, especially on Asia-Europe routes. A rebound in air cargo has led NYK to expand its charter business to handle rising demand since October.
NYK said its container volume surpassed year-ago levels in the January-March quarter and in the six months since October on many routes, led by North American and European routes. The recovery was not enough to offset the slump during the fiscal year’s first half.
Revenue fell 30 percent to $18.2 billion, but most of the drop came during the fiscal year’s first half, when cargo volume plummeted during the worst of the recession. NYK said tanker rates and car-carrier volume slumped along with container rates.
NYK said its full-year revenue was in line with its preliminary forecast in January but that the $187.5 million net loss was an improvement over the $310 million loss forecast in January.
The company said a recovering global economy has produced rising container volume, improved supply-demand ratio and higher rates, especially on Asia-Europe routes. A rebound in air cargo has led NYK to expand its charter business to handle rising demand since October.
NYK said its container volume surpassed year-ago levels in the January-March quarter and in the six months since October on many routes, led by North American and European routes. The recovery was not enough to offset the slump during the fiscal year’s first half.