Yang Ming Marine Transport Corp (陽明海運), the nation’s second--biggest container shipper, expects revenue to rebound in the second half of the year thanks to improving freight rates.
“The imposition of the peak season surcharges [PSS] — which started in mid-August — would help drive up revenue,” president Robert Ho (何樹生) said yesterday.
The shipper reported revenue of NT$48.04 billion (US$1.66 billion) in the first half of the year, down 0.72 percent from a year earlier. The second-quarter revenue was NT$25.14 billion, up 9.78 percent quarter-on-quarter, but down 5.31 percent year-on-year, company data showed.
The company posted a net loss of NT$2.6 billion, or NT$1.02 per share, in the first six months, compared with a net profit of NT$2.71 billion, or NT$1.06 per share, the previous year, data showed.
In the second quarter, Yang Ming reported a net loss of NT$2.73 billion on higher fuel costs after crude oil prices surged in April. The company made a net profit of NT$130 million in the first quarter.
Ho said the company’s loads on the European and North American routes have been at capacity since imposing the PSS. However, overcapacity in the market would pose a threat to the improved freight rates, he added.
The overall capacity of global shipping traffic is likely to fall in the fourth quarter amid possible route cancellations or the elimination of old ships, extending further support to freight rates, Ho said on the sidelines of the signing of a letter of intent with Sinotrans Ltd (中外運航運) to expand regional business in China and Asia.
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