AsiaContainers

HMM not out of the woods yet with $112m second quarter loss

While most of its container shipping rivals have managed to turn around results for the second quarter, South Korea’s Hyundai Merchant Marine (HMM) remains firmly in the red.

HMM, which went through a severe restructuring last year, notched an operating loss of KRW128bn ($112m) in the second quarter through to the end of June, despite revenues jumping 22.1% to KRW1.24trn. While still in red ink territory, the performance was far better than Q2 last year when HMM registered a KRW254bn loss.

Among the top 15 liners to have published their Q2 results to date, Yang Ming and the container division of MOL have been the only other lines to have posted losses.

HMM handled some 986,000 teu in the second quarter, up 46% from a year earlier.

“Although revenues increased, which helped narrow the company’s operating loss, freight rates remained low, denting our bottom line,” HMM said in a release today. Surging bunker costs were also cited as a factor for the loss.

An HMM official commented, “Q3 results will be dramatically improved with our regained trust from all customers and our continuous cost saving efforts. We will do our best to grow further as Korea’s national carrier and contribute to rebuilding Korea’s maritime business.”

Sam Chambers

Starting out with the Informa Group in 2000 in Hong Kong, Sam Chambers became editor of Maritime Asia magazine as well as East Asia Editor for the world’s oldest newspaper, Lloyd’s List. In 2005 he pursued a freelance career and wrote for a variety of titles including taking on the role of Asia Editor at Seatrade magazine and China correspondent for Supply Chain Asia. His work has also appeared in The Economist, The New York Times, The Sunday Times and The International Herald Tribune.

Comments

  1. “Among the 15 liners… YangMing and MOL posted loss” … Wrong OOCL lost in the container business. Please take a look at OOIL report.

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