P&O NEDLLOYD OPERATING PROFIT JUMPS 28%

    P&O Nedlloyd Container Line reported a 28-percent jump in
fourth-quarter operating profit, as the company ended its second year since
the merger of P&O Containers and Nedlloyd Lines.
    For the quarter ending Dec. 31, operating profit rose to $55 million.
Pretax profit was $21 million, after a break-even result a year earlier.
Revenue rose 5 percent to $882 million as volume rose 10 percent to 658,400 TEUs.
    P&O Nedlloyd said increased volume and cost-cutting more than offset
reduced rates, higher interest costs and problems associated with Asia.
Average revenue per TEU was down by 4 percent, to $1,339.
    For the year, P&O Nedlloyd reported operating profit of $81 million,
compared to $73 million in 1997. The company’s pretax loss after
exceptional items in 1998 narrowed to $2 million from $74 million a year
earlier.
    Full-year revenue rose to $3.41 billion from $3.37 billion, and volume
increased to 2.49 million TEUs in 1998 from 2.32 million.