AXS-Alphaliner Newsl..

Liftings in M teu
% Increase
ALPHALINER Weekly Newsletter 2009-Week 17
axs-alphaliner.com – the worldwide reference in liner shipping
0.276
Horizon Lines
Volume Growth
2006-2008
-3%
0.286
0.297
-4% -4%
2008 2007 2006
Carrier to suspend
financial guidance due to
“unprecedented
uncertainties”
APL
Monthly Operating
Performance
2003-2009
$/TEU & $/ton
Horizon Lines books $10M loss for 1Q
US Jones Act domestic liner operator, Horizon Lines has announced a first
quarter net loss of $10 M compared with a $0.7 M net profit last year. The
loss included a $4.4 M charge related to US Department of Justice antitrust
investigations and a $0.8 M restructuring charge related to staff
redundancies.
The company provides container shipping and logistics services within the
continental US, Puerto Rico, Alaska, Hawaii and Guam. Last year, it
reported profits of $3.06 M compared to $28.86 M in 2007, due largely to
asset impairment and restructuring charges. Horizon Lines has seen its
volumes dropping in recent years since its IPO in 2005.
Despite the first quarter loss, the company said that its financial
performance was “slightly above” expectations. However, it will stop
providing financial forecasts as it believes that “too many unprecedented
uncertainties remain in 2009 to resume our practice of providing specific
annual financial guidance.” It also added that “while our first-quarter
financial performance was somewhat ahead of our expectations, there can
be no assurances that this can be sustained throughout the year.”
APL rates and volumes continues to slip
In its newly released first quarter operating performance announcement,
APL’s parent company, Neptune Orient Lines reported a drastic 27% drop
in liftings to 963,200 teu for the 14 week period from 27 December 2008
to 3 April 2009. This represents the most drastic quarterly drop in volumes
for the carrier since the merger of the NOL and APL fleet in 1997.
The carrier also disclosed that average rates dropped by 16% to $1237/teu
for the period compared to the same period last year. It attributed the
1,800
1,600
1,400
1,200
1,000
800
600
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200
0
6 week reporting periods normalized for comparison
TEU/month $/TEU 180cst bunker price
P a g e | 14 © Copyright Alphaliner 1999-2009
500,000
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150,000
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50,000
0
TEU/month