Hanjin Shipping Returns to Black
South Korea's leading shipping line Hanjin Shipping has returned to the black in the first half with a profit of KRW127.2bn ($109.87m), erasing the loss of KRW424.2bn in the year-ago period.
Net profit came to 104.26 billion won (US$89.3 million) during the April-June period on a consolidated basis, a sharp turnaround from a loss of 199.77 billion won a year earlier, the company said in a regulatory filing.
Second-quarter sales dropped 6.29 percent on-year to 1.99 trillion won, but its operating profit more than doubled to 59.19 billion won from a year earlier.
Hanjin Shipping has remained profitable for five straight quarters starting from the second quarter of last year.
Hanjin Shipping’s container liner division saw the operating project soared to KRW226.5bn in the first half from just KRW1.7bn in the previous corresponding period, driven by rationalised service lanes and lower bunker costs.
The bulk business division, however, continued to record operating loss of KRW51.1bn compared to the loss of KRW62bn a year ago due mainly to China’s reduced import of coal and other seasonal effects.
Hanjin Shipping expected its second-half business to get better thanks in part to improving economic conditions in the U.S. and a possible hike in fees bolstered by growing shipping demand.
