MOL Delivers Stronger Quarter, Raises Outlook

Japan’s shipping firm Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL) is expecting an improvement in its earnings for the current fiscal year, as it witnessed a stronger first quarter.

MOL said its net income for the first quarter of the fiscal year reached JPY 5.2 billion (USD 47 million), compared to JPY 1.4 billion (USD 12.6 million) seen in the same period a year earlier. The company’s operating profit for the quarter stood at JPY 1.14 billion, representing a turnaround from an operating loss of JPY 3.5 billion reported in the previous year. MOL’s revenues for the period also increased reaching JPY 403.2 billion from JPY 360 billion reported in the first quarter of the previous fiscal year.

For the first six months of the fiscal year from April 1, 2017 to September 30, 2017, the company said it expects its net income to reach JPY 13 billion from JPY 7 billion previously expected. The company’s operating profit is also expected to be at JPY 10 billion, compared to the earlier expected JPY 4 billion, while its revenue outlook was revised to JPY 820 billion from the earlier expected JPY 805 billion.

Although the tanker business is expected to perform below the assumption, the company said that it made the upward revision for the first six months of the fiscal year mainly due to improved profits in the containership business, resulting from strong cargo trades and operational cost reductions.

For the fiscal year from April 1, 2017 to March 31, 2018, the company now expects its net income to reach JPY 12 billion, up from JPY 10 billion announced in its earlier outlook. Operating profit is set to be at JPY 18 billion from the earlier expected JPY 9 billion, while its revenue was revised to JPY 1.615 trillion from JPY 1.610 trillion.

MOL revised its full year outlook as it anticipates that the positive trends will continue throughout the fiscal year.