Better Results for NYK Line in 2012

NYK Line is adding more pure car and truck carriers, not expanding its container capacity

Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha (NYK Line) has said improvements in the global economy and the adoption of scrapping, slow steaming, and other measures helped it achieve revenues of ¥1.41 trillion ($15.2 billion) for the nine months ended December 31, 2012, compared with ¥1.35 trillion ($14.6 billion) for the same period  in 2011 year, and a net profit of ¥3.1 billion ($33.6 million), compared with a net loss of ¥17.2 billion ($186.2 million).

For the latest reporting period, NYK Line said problems caused by supply-demand imbalance in the shipping industry had grown, and it had responded to them with moves including more slow-steaming and the scrapping of some vessels, which helped the profitability of its liner trade segment.

The company has reduced its forecast for operating income in the 2012 fiscal year, ending March 31, 2013, to ¥19 billion ($206 million), compared with the ¥28 billion ($303 million) it had predicted at the end of October.

However, the company raised its expectations for net income for the fiscal year to ¥6 billion ($65 million), compared with a previous forecast of ¥1 billion ($10.8 million) due to decreased loss on valuation of investment securities in the third quarter.

The company maintained a forecast for a ¥1.88 trillion ($20.3 million) revenue in FY 2012, up from ¥1.81 trillion ($19.6 billion) the previous year, and its operating net results predictions also represented improvements from the previous year, when it had an operating loss of ¥24 billion ($260 million) and a net loss of ¥73 billion ($791 million).

NYK Line announced in August that it was scaling back plans for fleet expansion that it had announced in 2011 and shifting its expansion focus to LNG carriers.

In October, it also said it would add four new, fuel-efficient Pure Car and Truck Carriers (PCTCs) to its fleet, predicting growth in that market.