February 2 - MOL has forecast a USD1.45 billion loss for its financial year ending March 31, 2016, as the Japanese line restructures its dry bulker and container shipping business areas.
The full weight of the restructuring plan will be borne during MOL's fourth quarter trading period. It will withdraw a number of capesize and panamax bulkers, while rationalising its container business in response to slumping intra-Asia demand and a slowdown on Asia to Europe and South America trade lanes.
"We have decided to implement business structural reforms in response to the current severe business environment," MOL said in a statement.
MOL reported Q3 2015 revenues of USD10.92 billion, down 2.06 percent year-on-year. Profitability fell 46.57 percent year-on-year to USD110.2 million.
For the nine-months ending December 31, 2015 NYK Line posted a 0.9 percent drop in revenues at USD14.7 billion, while net profit slipped 19.8 percent to USD188.7 million.
It forecasts total revenue for the financial year ending March 31, 2016 to drop 3.4 percent year-on-year to USD19.2 billion. Net profit for the trading period is estimated at USD206.9 million - down some 47.5 percent year-on-year.
"K" Line has also revised its financial forecast for its financial year ending March 31, 2016. It expects total revenue of JPY1.27 trillion (USD10.5 billion) - down 1.9 percent on its previous forecast. Full year net profit is forecast at JPY5 billion (USD41.4 million) - down some 58.3 percent from its previous forecast.
"K" Line said a number of large newbuilding deliveries and a lack of market growth exacerbated the imbalance between supply and demand in the containership sector. This was compounded by the Chinese economic slowdown, which harmed its dry bulk business.
