APL posts loss of $379 million in first half

Neptune Orient Lines (NOL) announced a net loss for the first half of 2009 of $391 million, compared with a net profit of $196 million for the same period of 2008. At the Core EBIT level NOL posted a loss of $353 million. Revenue was down year-on-year by 37% to $2.931 billion.

NOL Group Chairman, Mr Cheng Wai Keung, said: “In the first half of 2009, NOL’s performance continued to be impacted by the global economic recession.”

For the second quarter of 2009, NOL recorded a net loss of $146 million.

Revenue from NOL’s Container Shipping business, APL, was down year-on-year by 37% at $2.48 billion. The second quarter's revenue of $1.18 billion was 39% less than the same period of 2008.

APL posted a Core EBIT loss of $379 million for the first half of 2009. For the second quarter, the Core EBIT loss was $142 million.

APL’s first half volumes were down year-on-year by 24% to 970,000 FEU. In the second quarter, volumes dropped by 19% compared with the prior year, to 489,000 FEU.

In the second quarter, there were some shifts in the volume mix, with Intra Asia trade contributing 39% of total volumes compared with 34% in the same period of the prior year.

APL Logistics’ first half Core EBIT of $24 million was 20% lower than the same period last year.

Operating and general and administrative costs for the Logistics segment reduced in the first half, by 39% and 25% respectively.<Korea Shipping Gazette>