“K” LINE RAISES ITS PROFIT TARGETS

“K” LINE RAISES ITS PROFIT TARGETS

“K” LINE RAISES ITS PROFIT TARGETS

   Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, Ltd. has raised its revenue and profit targets for its 2002/2003 financial year, largely because of a stronger than expected improvement in its container shipping business.

   Under the “New K-21” corporate plan, announced in 1998, “K” Line had forecast a group consolidated revenue of 600 billion yen ($5.7 billion) and an ordinary profit of 18 billion yen ($171 million) for the financial year ending March 31, 2003.

   Under the revised five-year management plan, “K” Line has set higher targets for the 2002/2003 financial year, including consolidated revenues of 610 billion yen ($5.8 billion), an ordinary profit of 33 billion yen ($314 million) and a return on invested capital of 7.5 percent.

   “The company has been able to make better accomplishments than expected at the time the new plan started,” a spokesman for “K” Line said.

   “K” Line said that it aims to rank as one of the 10 largest container shipping lines. The shipping line ranks 13th in American Shipper’s latest league of the world’s top 20 container shipping lines.

   “We are going to throw twelve new 5,500-TEU containerships into trunk service routes and carry on exploration of new markets,” “K” Line said.

   In bulk shipping, the company’s goal is to be “a mega-carrier with operating deadweight of 10 million tons in total.”

   “K” Line also revised the expected breakdown of its revenues by division. In its original plan, container shipping was to generate 40 to 45 percent of group operating revenues. Now, container shipping revenues is expected to produce over 50 percent of group operating revenues.