Singapore’s flagship carrier logged an annual deficit of $76m, an improvementon the $412m reversal of 2012.
Ng Yat Chung, chief executive of NOL, says a $200m gain from the sale ofthe company’s head quarters and $470m in cost savings aided the annualperformance.
“Coupled with $504m saved in 2012, NOL had shed almost $1bn in costsover the past two years,” the executive said in a statement.
“The delivery of new tonnage in2013 added to the over-capacity in the container shipping industry. Overallfreight rates declined through the year, with the fourth quarter recording oneof the lowest levels the industry has seen in the last three years,” he added.
NOL notes its core operating profit climbed from $121m to $150myear-on-year helped by cost savings.
Analysts at RS Platou Markets had been expecting a $250m loss from thecompany. Predictions for core operating profit for 2013 ran to $161m.
For the fourth quarter red ink of $137m was more than double the lossrecorded at the same stage in 2012 as revenue was cut by 7% to $2.33bn.
