On November 3, Pan Ocean released its performance report for the third quarter of this year. The company achieved operating revenue of 1,269.5 billion KRW (approximately 894 million USD, 6.47 billion RMB), a year-on-year decrease of 0.6%; it achieved an operating profit of 125.2 billion KRW (approximately 88.17 million USD, 638 million RMB), a year-on-year decrease of 2.2%.
In the first three quarters, Pan Ocean’s cumulative operating revenue was 3,956.6 billion KRW (approximately 2.786 billion USD, 20.1 billion RMB), a year-on-year increase of 13.5%; the cumulative operating profit was 361.5 billion KRW (approximately 254 million USD, 1.84 billion RMB), remaining flat compared to the same period last year.
Pan Ocean stated that despite the intensifying external uncertainties, the company maintained relatively strong performance in the third quarter, primarily benefiting from its entry into the LNG transportation business in recent years, which enhanced the company’s ability to cope with long-cycle market fluctuations.
In the third quarter, the global dry bulk shipping, container shipping, and oil tanker markets were under significant pressure. Pan Ocean’s dry bulk shipping business operating profit decreased by approximately 24.5% year-on-year, mainly affected by the deepening trade disputes between China and the United States. The gap between charter rates and freight rates has widened to a historical high due to the divergence between market indices and the operating environment. The container shipping business saw its operating profit decrease by approximately 57.4% year-on-year due to market deterioration. The oil tanker business operating profit also decreased by approximately 29.7%, partly due to the sale of two MR-type tankers. However, under these challenging conditions, the company’s LNG transportation business achieved a strong performance, with operating profit increasing approximately threefold year-on-year. This was mainly driven by the consecutive delivery and commissioning of its newly built LNG carriers. The significant growth in the LNG transportation business also helped Pan Ocean’s overall performance remain at a relatively high level.
A representative from Pan Ocean said: “In a situation of increasing uncertainty, if we follow short-term market conditions and aggressively expand the fleet scale, the company’s losses would actually increase. Therefore, rather than pursuing an aggressive business expansion strategy, the company is more focused on maintaining a stable business investment portfolio and ensuring operational efficiency. Although the third-quarter performance was lower than market forecasts, through this efficiency-centered operation, the company achieved a 1.8% quarter-on-quarter increase in operating profit despite a 1.9% quarter-on-quarter decrease in operating revenue.”
In the first quarter of this year, Pan Ocean achieved operating revenue of 1,393.4 billion KRW (approximately 1.007 billion USD, 7.3 billion RMB), a significant year-on-year increase of 42.8%; it achieved an operating profit of 113.3 billion KRW (approximately 81.88 million USD, 600 million RMB), a year-on-year increase of 15.4%.
In the second quarter, the company achieved operating revenue of 1,293.6 billion KRW (approximately 930 million USD, 6.7 billion RMB), a quarter-on-quarter decrease of 7.2%; it achieved an operating profit of 123 billion KRW (approximately 88.5 million USD, 640 million RMB), a quarter-on-quarter increase of 8.6%. The operating profit margin reached 9.5%, an increase of 1.4 percentage points from the 8.1% in the first quarter.
In the third quarter, the company’s operating profit margin reached 9.86%, continuing the trend of improving profitability.
