Mitsui OSK Lines (MOL) has reported a more than seven-fold increase in net profit for the first nine months of the year on the back of continued strength in the containership and bulker sectors.
The Japanese shipowner posted net income of ¥487.1bn ($4.2bn) for the April to December period, figures released Monday showed.
This compares with net income of just ¥64.4bn in the corresponding period last year.
The shipowner also reported a 27% year on year increase in revenue to ¥928.5bn.
MOL said ordinary profit at its container ship operations was up almost eight-fold to ¥425.1bn for the first nine months of the financial year.
MOL’s dry bulk business posted a nine-month operating profit of ¥31.9bn against the ¥1.2bn seen 12 months earlier.
Meanwhile, energy shipping — which includes tankers and LNG carriers — saw a decline in profit to ¥18.2bn from the ¥26.5bn seen a year ago.
MOL said the major reasons for the increase in profit were a significant increase in profit at its container ship operation due to a rise in the spot freight rates associated with brisk cargo trade demand and the supply side constraints, favourable dry bulk market conditions and a recovery in transport volume by car carriers.
MOL said that while container liftings decreased in the third quarter due to continued disruption of the overall supply chain, freight rates were higher than anticipated.
“Although additional costs were incurred to maintain schedules, congestion in ports and inland, and so on, profit increased significantly year on year,” it said.
“Strong demand for the transportation of raw materials for steel and constraints on vessel supply caused by measures to combat Covid-19 kept the capesize market at a relatively high level, resulting in a large increase in profit.”
In the car carrier segment, MOL said profit improved significantly from the same period of the previous year, when the Covid-19 pandemic led to a substantial decline in the number of units transported.
“Despite the impact of the semiconductor shortage an overall rebound in transport volume and a successful fleet reduction implemented in the previous year contributed to the improved results,” MOL added.
MOL now anticipates a full-year profit of ¥630bn, an upgrade of ¥150bn from forecast last updated at the end of October 2021.
