RCL quarterly loss narrows, its best performance in two years

BANGKOK's Regional Container Lines (RCL) has reported a net loss of US$6.1 million in the second quarter of 2010, its eighth consecutive quarterly loss, but still the company's best performance in two years, reports Alphaliner.

First-half net loss was $17 million against a net loss of $28.5 million in the first six months of 2009. First half revenue increased 12 per cent year on year to $231 million as container volume rose eight per cent and revenue per TEU was up four per cent.

RCL attributed the upswing to increased demand in the first half for both its Shipper Owned Container (SOC) and Carrier Owned Container (COC) volumes. First half SOC volume increased seven per cent to 573,405 TEU while COC was up nine per cent to 668,197 TEU.

Performance still fell below RCL figures for 2007 and 2008 and was said to reflect the difficult operating environment that regional carriers face because of greater intra-Asia competition from new entrants able to secure cheap tonnage in the last 12 months, said Alphaliner.
(Source:www.schednet.com)