Americas News
Horizon Lines Loss Widens as Bunker Surcharges Fall
Horizon Lines Inc. reports it widened its loss to $26.3 million in the first quarter of 2014, compared with $20.1 million in the same period last year, due partly to lower bunker surcharges.
The increased loss came despite a 7.6 percent increase in container volume, driven by more cargo carried on the company's Hawaii and Puerto Rico trade lanes.
Revenues for the U.S. domestic carrier grew 3 percent to $251.9 million.
The company reported paying an average of $638 per metric tonne (pmt) for bunker fuel, down 5.5 percent from the average of $675 pmt paid in Q1 2013.
"The decline in our container rates was mainly due to lower bunker and intermodal fuel surcharges, the competitive environment in the Puerto Rico market, and a shift in cargo mix," said President and CEO Sam Woodward.
"Volume increases in our Hawaii market were predominantly due to modest growth in the Hawaii economy, including construction materials and tourism, as well as an increase in automobile shipments.
"Improvement in our Puerto Rico lift was primarily due to the full quarter impact of 2013's addition of a biweekly Jacksonville sailing to our southbound service between Houston and San Juan, as well as market share gains in our service between Philadelphia and San Juan."
Woodward said the company's costs for fuel and labour associated with dry-docking transits rose by $6.9 million.
Horizon Lines, which is working to reduce fuel costs by converting some vessels to operate on liquefied natural gas (LNG), reduced its annual loss to $31.9 million in 2013, down from $94.7 million the previous year.
