Shipping company P&O Nedlloyd has issued a profit warning for the second quarter.
The company announced this morning an operating loss of $46 million for the second quarter, compared to a profit of $46 million for the second quarter of 2001.
Citing rising fuel costs and overcapacity as the reason for the losses, the company said prospects for world economic growth continue to be uncertain and that recent weakness in the US dollar would potentially have a negative impact on the result for the second half of the year.
The $46 million operating loss for the second quarter of 2002 (before restructuring costs of $15 million) follows a loss of $66 million (before $2 million restructuring costs) in the previous quarter.
The company said the major factor impacting the result was the continuing decline in revenue rates, which dropped 15 per cent compared to the same period last year.
The Europe/Asia and Trans-pacific trades were particularly badly affected by the economic downturn.
