Hanjin Shipping’s net profit hit 39.8 bln won in Q3

Hanjin Shipping Co., South Korea’s leading shipping line, said Thursday its third-quarter net reached 39.8 billion won (US$37.7 million), switching to black for the first time in 15 quarters largely due to foreign exchange gains and better earnings from container traffic.

In the third quarter of 2013, the company’s net loss reached a staggering 317.7 billion won.

The company, owned by Korean Air Lines Co., the country’s largest flag carrier, said sales reached 2.14 trillion won, down 15.1 percent from the year before, while operating profit stood at 60.7 billion won vis-a-vis a loss of 69.5 billion won a year earlier.

The company’s July-September operating profit figures represent the second quarter in a row that Hanjin posted profits.

“The strong won translated into solid transaction gains in the three-month period for the company, with demand for container traffic contributing to overall profits,” Hanjin said.

It said more traffic on the key North America and Europe routes, as well as a rise in fares, helped the company.

Hanjin said a drop in sales comes as it sold off old ships, affecting its supply capability.

For the nine months of 2014, Hanjin’s bottom line stood at minus 384.4 billion won, a 11.2 percent improvement from 432.8 billion won in the red reported a year earlier.

Its operating profit reached 27.5 billion won from minus 266.6 billion won, while sales stood at 6.44 trillion won, down 12.4 percent from 7.35 trillion won tallied for the first three quarters of 2013.

Shares of Hanjin Shipping closed up 4.58 percent, while the benchmark KOSPI ended down 0.11 percent. The company announced its third-quarter earnings during trading hours.
Source: Yonhap