Log-In Logistica Integrada, the Brazilian logistics conglomerate, saw its results sink into the red despite its best fourth-quarter top line on record.

The Sao Paulo-listed outfit, in which Swiss liner giant MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company is the majority shareholder, reported a loss of BRL 35.9m (47.27m) for the final quarter of the year, reversing a BRL 289m profit from a year earlier.

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That came despite BRL 602m in net operating revenue during the period, which was 9.9% higher than the fourth quarter of 2022.

Log-In said the record was fuelled by results from all of its business units.

In its coastal shipping unit, the company said a “better cargo mix and pricing strategy” fuelled a 14% boost in revenue, even as droughts in the Amazon and floods in southern Brazil hit volumes.

Log-In’s feeder shipping business delivered record volumes as the weather problems in Brazil’s south led to demand from international liner operators for “contingency” shipments.

The only exception in its shipping business was in trades in the Mercosul market, where an economic crisis in Argentina weighed on revenue. Log-In’s Terminal Vila Velha in Espiritu Santo state delivered record revenue of BRL 93.8m, thanks to high container movement volumes, contract adjustments and a better mix of cargoes.

Costs also increased, leading Log-In to report a quarterly gross profit of BRL 85.6m, down from BRL 137m in the last three months of 2022.

Also cutting from the bottom line was BRL 33.3m in tax-related charges, reversing BRL 197m boost a year earlier from tax deferments.

The quarterly result helped fuel an 85.2% slump in full-year profits, which totalled BRL 60.2m in 2023, down from BRL 407m.

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