Neptune Orient Declines After Predicting 2009 Loss (Update2)
By Jonathan Burgos and Chen Shiyin
Feb. 11 (Bloomberg) -- Neptune Orient Lines Ltd., Southeast Asia’s biggest container carrier, fell in Singapore trading after forecasting a loss this year as the global recession damps demand for transporting Asian-made goods.
The shares declined 3.2 percent to S$1.20 at the close of trading. They have gained 7.1 percent this year.
Neptune Orient will delay taking deliveries of some ships until 2012 after reporting a net loss of $149 million in the fourth quarter of last year, the first quarterly deficit in six years. The worst economic crisis since the Great Depression has hammered rates, prompting Neptune Orient, A.P. Moeller-Maersk A/S and other lines to take vessels out of service, cut routes and eliminate jobs.
“With industry’s freight rates deteriorating further in January, and the reduction of fuel surcharges, we think Neptune Orient’s profitability will remain under pressure,” Credit Suisse AG analysts Sam Lee and Hung Bin Toh wrote in a note today.
Neptune Orient’s fourth-quarter results included $72 million of “restructuring charges,” which comprised costs for eliminating some jobs, Cedric Foo, chief financial officer, told reporters after the results announcement yesterday.
An annual net loss would be the first in seven years, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
To contact the reporters on this story: Jonathan Burgos in Singapore at [email protected]; Chen Shiyin in Singapore at [email protected]
Last Updated: February 11, 2009 04:23 EST
By Jonathan Burgos and Chen Shiyin
Feb. 11 (Bloomberg) -- Neptune Orient Lines Ltd., Southeast Asia’s biggest container carrier, fell in Singapore trading after forecasting a loss this year as the global recession damps demand for transporting Asian-made goods.
The shares declined 3.2 percent to S$1.20 at the close of trading. They have gained 7.1 percent this year.
Neptune Orient will delay taking deliveries of some ships until 2012 after reporting a net loss of $149 million in the fourth quarter of last year, the first quarterly deficit in six years. The worst economic crisis since the Great Depression has hammered rates, prompting Neptune Orient, A.P. Moeller-Maersk A/S and other lines to take vessels out of service, cut routes and eliminate jobs.
“With industry’s freight rates deteriorating further in January, and the reduction of fuel surcharges, we think Neptune Orient’s profitability will remain under pressure,” Credit Suisse AG analysts Sam Lee and Hung Bin Toh wrote in a note today.
Neptune Orient’s fourth-quarter results included $72 million of “restructuring charges,” which comprised costs for eliminating some jobs, Cedric Foo, chief financial officer, told reporters after the results announcement yesterday.
An annual net loss would be the first in seven years, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
To contact the reporters on this story: Jonathan Burgos in Singapore at [email protected]; Chen Shiyin in Singapore at [email protected]
Last Updated: February 11, 2009 04:23 EST
