South Korean flagship HMM continues to lose money in a massive way, and responds by saying it will spend more money on big boxships.
HMM, one of the worst performing liners this year, reported its third quarter earnings yesterday, which saw the Seoul-headquartered company post a net loss for the three-month period of KRW166.7bn ($148m), contrasting even worse than the KRW60.7bn loss it made in the same period last year. HMM cited increasing bunker costs and a “delay in regional rate recovery” for the losses. Average bunker costs stood at $445 per ton in the last quarter, sharply up over the $311 per ton seen in the third quarter of 2017.
HMM, which recently ordered 20 mega boxships, responded to the poor results by announcing plans for more new ships financed by state aid.
“HMM will accelerate to acquire good assets such as eco-friendly mega containerships and terminals through recently secured financial liquidity,” the company said in a release.
