Koninklijke Nedlloyd Groep News

Dutch shipping firm Koninklijke Nedlloyd Groep NV posted a first-quarter net loss of $15.4 million, but said it expected full-year results from ordinary activities to be "clearly positive." The shipping and road transport group, which holds a 50 percent stake in the P&O Nedlloyd joint venture with Britain's P&O, said its losses equaled those in the first quarter of 1999 and were largely due to strength in the U.S. dollar versus the euro. P&O Nedlloyd reported a first quarter pre-tax loss of $29 million versus a $36 million loss a year ago. "The figures are slightly better than expected, and they foresee some operational profit in the second quarter, but they say that nearly every year. But the share price hasn't really reacted to the figures," a trader said.

Dutch shipping firm Koninklijke Nedlloyd Groep NV posted a first-quarter net loss of 17 million euros, but said it expected full-year results from ordinary activities to be "clearly positive." The shipping and road transport group, which holds a 50 percent stake in the P&O Nedlloyd joint venture with Britain's P&O, said its losses equaled those in the first quarter of 1999 and were largely due to strength in the U.S. dollar versus the euro. P&O Nedlloyd reported a first quarter pre-tax loss of $29 million versus a $36 million loss a year ago. On Tuesday, P&O Nedlloyd announced that Tim Harris had resigned as director and chief executive. P&O director Robert Woods was appointed group managing director.

Dutch shipping and road transport group Koninklijke Nedlloyd Groep NV plans to sell its Mammoet transport unit to Dutch Van Seumeren. Italian Decafin SpA will also sell its 33 percent interest in Mammoet Decalift International to Van Seumeren as part of the deal, Nedlloyd officials said. The company previously said it would buy Decafin's stake. Officials said a limited number of job cuts may occur as a result of its integration with Van Seumeren.

It is reported that P&O Nedlloyd reached an agreement to buy U.S. Farrell Lines Inc for an undisclosed sum. No timing was set for the purchase, which is subject to approval by the U.S. Maritime Administration and other agencies. Farrell is a privately-owned U.S. shipping company based in New York City which employs 165 staff. It operates five U.S. flagged container ships in a service between the U.S. East Coast and the Mediterranean. Farrell's services will be upgraded to enable it to link with P&O Nedlloyd's global network to operate weekly service to a number of eastern Mediterranean ports. P&O Nedlloyd is a 50-50 joint venture held by Dutch Koninklijke Nedlloyd Groep NV and Britain's P&O.

P&O Nedlloyd Container Line Ltd. posted its best-ever second quarter results on Thursday. The group said profits before tax were $28 million, a $60 million improvement on a $32 million loss notched up for the same period last year. P & O Nedlloyd attributed the solid performance, achieved despite high fuel costs, to growing volume and cost savings. Volume during the second quarter was the greatest ever achieved by the group, a 50-50 joint venture between Dutch Koninklijke Nedlloyd Groep NV and Britain's Peninular & Oriental Steam Navigation Co, since it started trading in 1997. P & O Nedlloyd said annualized savings, currently running at around $60 million, would comfortably hit a target of $100 million by the end of this year and $180 million by the end of 2001.

Container shipping group P&O Nedlloyd posted its best ever first-quarter operating profit on Wednesday, helped by lower fuel prices and a seven percent rise in traffic. The company, a joint venture between Britain's P&O and Dutch Koninklijke Nedlloyd Groep, reported an operating profit of $31 million for the three months, compared with a year-ago loss of $14 million. In addition to a traffic volume rise, the firm said revenue rates rose by five percent from a year ago, although they remained flat compared to the fourth quarter of 2000. But the company again declined to offer a full-year forecast, citing continued uncertainty in the world economy, although it said it was on 'solid footing' to withstand those uncertainties. - (Reuters)

Dutch shipping and road transport group Koninklijke Nedlloyd Groep NV said on Thursday it had posted a net profit of 17 million euros ($15.4 million) in the first half of 2001, up from a loss of 10 million at the same time one year ago. But the company, whose results are mainly determined by its 50 percent stake in the P&O Nedlloyd container shipping joint venture with Britain's P&O, added that full-year net profits were unlikely to match last year's 50 million euros ($45.5 million). "P&O Nedlloyd is not immune to the decline in the world economy," company officials said. Nedlloyd's second-quarter net profit grew to 12 million euros ($10.9 million) versus a profit of seven million in the same period of 2000.

Merrill Lynch said on Monday it had cut its rating on British shipping and logistics group The Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation Company (P&O) to "reduce" from "neutral" in the intermediate term. Analysts at the investment bank also cut their long-term rating on the stock to "accumulate" from "buy", citing a worsening outlook for the company's container business. They expected second-quarter results for P&O Nedlloyd (P&O's joint venture with Dutch Koninklijke Nedlloyd Groep), due on Thursday, to be poor for sentiment, they said. "The tone is unlikely to be encouraging and the risk with forecasts is on the downside," they said.

P&O Nedlloyd said on Thursday that global economic slowdown was expected to affect future revenues, as the container shipping group posted a slight rise in second quarter operating profit. P&O Nedlloyd - a joint venture between Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation Company Plc (P&O) and Koninklijke Nedlloyd Groep - said operating profit for the quarter rose to $46 million from $44 million a year ago. Overall volumes rose four percent from last year, but the average revenue rate fell four percent. "Slower growth in world trade and new capacity entering the market are expected to adversely impact future load factors and revenue," the group said in a statement.