MOL CEO Optimistic on 2018
President & CEO of Mitsui O.S.K. Lines Junichiro Ikeda says that his company is strongly determined to shape the future of the industry.
Looking at the shipping market, conditions were mixed across businesses, with firm conditions in dry bulkers but weaker trends in tankers, for example. A full-scale recovery is still in the making.
"Amid suboptimal shipping market conditions, we expect to finish fiscal 2017 with results largely in line with our initial forecasts, as steady operational enhancements and efforts on the sales frontline come to fruition," he said.
Two things are clear: (1) the MOL Group is transforming itself into an enterprise capable of generating steady profits following business structural reforms, and (2) this transformation is the result of the hard work and dedication of all MOL Group executives and employees.
The MOL Group made bold investment decisions with a focus on businesses that offer prospects for long-term growth and steady earnings. Notably, in the LNG carriers and offshore businesses, it entered the self-elevating platform vessel business, providing offshore wind power generation installation services, along with taking part in a floating LNG receiving terminal project in India and expanding the Yamal LNG project.
2018 is the second year of MOL's rolling plans. "We will be drawing up specific business policies based on in-depth discussions with each division. In last year's Rolling Plan 2017, we articulated three main themes as our Vision for the MOL Group Ten Years from Now," Junichiro added.
"I have no doubt that the MOL Group's strength lies in each and every of its executives and employees. I'd like the MOL Group to further strengthen the abilities of each individual, as well as the abilities of the organization, an aggregation of those individuals, and to be a group that can adapt flexibly to change," he stated.