Korea Line Q3 operating income down 5.7 pct
Korea Line Corp., South Korea's No. 2 bulk carrier, said Wednesday its third-quarter operating profit sank nearly 6 percent on-year due to lower freight rates, according to Yonhap.
Consolidated operating income came to 74.6 billion won (US$57.1 million) in the July-September period, down 5.7 percent from a year earlier, the company said in a regulatory filing.
Sales dipped 23.7 percent on-year to 336.3 billion won in the three-month period. The company's bottom line was not available.
In the first nine months of the year, Korea Line's sales fell 15.1 percent to 1.03 trillion won, with its operating income declining 9.8 percent to 199.7 billion won.
The company said falling freight rates were responsible for the decrease in its third-quarter operating income.
The Baltic Dry Index (BDI), a measure of shipping costs for commodities, stood at 1,189 for the third quarter, down 28 percent from a year ago and 11 percent from three months earlier.
Korea Line's third-quarter operating profit, however, exceeded a median market forecast of 64.5 billion won, thanks to the strong performance of its liquefied natural gas sector.
The bulk carrier, the shipping arm of SM Group, the 25th-largest family-run conglomerate in Asia's fourth-largest economy, has Korea Line LNG Co. under its wing.
