“The market remains so strong that we have problems from time to time in securing sufficient capacity,” says Ingar Skaug, group chief executive for WW. “Our results are good, but could have been even better if we had a more balanced capacity situation and therefore could avoid the additional costs imposed on us by the tight market.”
Trades from Asia to North America and Asia to Europe are under particular pressure.
“To make tonnage available for our Pacific trade, we’ve had to transport cargoes by land between the US west and east coasts,” Skaug reports. “We also have more ballast legs from Europe back to Asia in order to ensure capacity. And expensive additional tonnage must be chartered in. At the same time, our results are influenced by high bunkers costs, particularly for EUKOR, our Korean shipping company.”
WW’s net operating profit for the second quarter came to USD 68 million, compared with USD 58 million in the same period of 2006. Total operating income was USD 641 million as against USD 664 million. Profit before taxes came to USD 70 million, compared with USD 51 million.
| Operating income |
641 |
664 |
| Net operating profit |
68 |
58 |
| Profit before taxes |
70 |
51 |
Net operating profit for the first half was USD 121 million, compared with USD 132 million in the same period of 2006. Total operating income was USD 1.2 billion as against USD 1.3 billion. Profit before taxes came to USD 112 million, compared with USD 127 million.
| Operating income |
1 223 |
1 285 |
| Net operating profit |
121 |
132 |
| Profit before taxes |
112 |
127 |
Skaug believes that the income will continue to grow. “The efficient global network we’ve developed since the acquisition of Unitor is now contributing to good results in the maritime services segment. We’re also achieving synergies in various markets, securing cross-sales and making money from our commitment to logistics, in addition to reinforcing our position as a world leader in traditional shipping.”
WW continues to expect a profit for 2007, after ordinary financial items and adjusted for special items, which is somewhat weaker than in 2006. That is primarily because EUKOR has still not reached agreement with Hyundai Motor Company/Kia Motors Corporation on compensation for higher bunkers prices. This is in line with first-quarter forecasts.
» Link to Webcast