Singaporean shipping firm Neptune Orient Lines (NOL) has posted a net financial loss of US$741m for 2009 and the group's revenue for last year was down 30 per cent to US$6.5bn.
"2009 was a most demanding year. We witnessed a worldwide economic downturn of unprecedented scale and, as a consequence, experienced a major slowdown in global trade," NOL chairman Cheng Wai Keung said.
The losses were largely incurred by NOL's container shipping arm APL, which like other container shipping lines has suffered due to weakening demand during the global recession
However, the company reported their terminal operations and dedicated logistics services had positive results in spite of reduced revenues, the Handy Shipping Guide reported.
NOL also reported that the start of the new year had seen improvements in volumes in key markets and freight rates increase, meaning there was cause for optimism for the year ahead.
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