Singapore's NOL Group, which owns the container shipping line APL, has reported a 50 per cent rise in net profit for the third quarter of 2007 due to increased freight rates and a substantial growth in volume.
Net earnings in the three-month period up to the end of September amounted to US$191 million compared to $127 million in the same period last year.
Revenue surged by 15 per cent quarter on quarter from $1.76 billion to $2.03 billion.
In the same period, APL posted a 19 per cent growth in revenue with freight rates moving up because of increases levied in key trade lanes, NOL said.
APL carried 1.7 million FEU, an 11 per cent increase over the same period in 2006 mainly due to volumes rising on the transpacific and intra-Asia trade lanes.
"Our group has delivered a strong profit performance in the third quarter. This was due to continuing double-digit growth in our container volumes, freight rate restoration in key shipping trades," said NOL president and CEO Thomas Held.
"The strength of our third quarter performance is shown by the fact that 3Q07 earnings exceeded those for the first half of this year," he added.
NOL's logistics arm, APL Logistics, reported a 2 per cent improvement in revenue quarter on quarter.
In its outlook statement, the group said: "Over the first nine months of this year, improving market conditions have led to robust volume growth and higher freight rates in key trade lanes. We expect these conditions to continue through the rest of the year."
"Barring unforeseen circumstances, we expect this momentum to continue into 2008."
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