Poor results for Japanese carriers

Two Japanese companies, Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL) and “K” Lines suffered falls in profit in the second quarter of this year, with the former also downgrading its financial projections for the 2014 financial year.

Mitsui O.S.K. Lines saw net income (net profit) between April and June dive by 34.2% to JPY8.5bn (US$82.6m) compared to the equivalent period in 2013 while “K” Lines’ net income decreased by 38.6% to JPY4.3bn (US$41.8m).

The figures prompted MOL to announce a one third cut on its initial forecast for net income for the 2014 financial year, between April 2014 and March 2015, from JPY60bn (US$582.9m) to JPY40bn (US$388.6m).