Royal P&O Nedlloyd, the world's third-largest container shipper, reported record third-quarter earnings, beating expectations thanks to booming demand for its services outpacing supply of container space. P&O Nedlloyd CEO Philip Green boosted his forecast for 2004 on Thursday, saying he was now comfortable with analyst expectations for the shipping unit's operating profit of at least $360-370 million versus previous outlook of $325 million.
The Netherlands-listed company, which has been enjoying the benefits of outsourcing by North American and European companies to Asia, said its net profit quadrupled to $107 million as revenues at its core container shipping unit rose 22 percent to $1.775 billion.
Average freight rates rose 10 percent and volume was up 12 percent, or 14 percent on a like-for-like basis, it said.
Green said he expected volumes and rates to be sequentially flat in the last three months of the year.
Shares in P&O Nedlloyd, which is tipped as a likely target in expected consolidation of the sector, initially rose as much as 2.7 percent, but had edged 0.03 percent lower to 36.99 euros by 0938 GMT.