HANJIN SHIPPING REPORTS JUMP IN ANNUAL OPERATING INCOME

HANJIN SHIPPING REPORTS JUMP IN ANNUAL OPERATING INCOME

   Hanjin Shipping reported an operating income of 241 billion Korean Won (about $212 million) for 1999, 76 percent higher than in the previous year, when measured in Korean currency.

   Net income increased to Won37 billion (about $32 million) in 1999, from Won22 billion in 1998.

   A spokesman for Hanjin at the group’s headquarters in Seoul said that the company’s management had no issued comments on the year’s results. The results in U.S. dollars will be published in April, he said.

   The results of Korean shipping lines in local currency are generally difficult to interpret because of changes in the exchange rates of the Korean Won.

   Unlike in 1998 and 1997, the 1999 results of Hanjin do not include large extraordinary losses that were due largely to the depreciation of the Korean Won and the Asian economic crisis. However, Hanjin’s 1999 results include a charge for income taxes, whereas the group had no income taxes in the previous two years.

   In 1999, the Korean shipping group’s operating revenues dropped by 2 percent, to Won4 trillion (about $3.52 billion), from Won4.1 trillion in 1998.

   Revenues from container shipping increased by 16 percent in Korean currency, to Won2.7 trillion (about $2.39 billion), from Won2.33 billion in 1998.

   Hanjin carried 1.97 million TEUs in 1999, an increase of 8 percent on the previous year.

   The highly-leveraged Korean group reported that its debt-to-equity ratio improved from 1190 percent in 1998 to 460 percent in 1999.

   In container shipping, Hanjin’s average load factor rose to 72 percent in 1999, from 67 percent in the previous year.