After the turnover of container shipping company Ocean Network Express (ONE) declined last year, the company has now slipped into the red.
According to a company statement, revenue in the third quarter of the financial year (October to December) amounted to $4.074bn, but ONE posted a net loss of $88m. In the previous quarter, the company had generated a profit of $285m and was therefore still in positive territory. However, ONE was unable to match last year’s result: in the third quarter of 2024, the shipping company reported a profit of $1.156bn (revenue: $4.846bn).
The outlook for the final financial quarter is slightly positive. ONE expects revenue of $4.022bn between January and March, with a net profit of $27m according to current forecasts. The second half of the year would therefore end with a loss of $61m, while the forecast for the year as a whole is a profit of $310m.
According to ONE, the development was significantly influenced by a continued increase in supply combined with slowing container volumes. Trade between Asia and North America in particular led to a sharp decline in freight rates. Due to frontloading in the first half of the year, transpacific volumes weakened. According to ONE, trade between Asia and Europe also stagnated initially, but later recovered and remained stable until the end of the year. In addition, numerous new vessel deliveries led to an increase in available capacity and thus to an imbalance between supply and demand.
“Challenging market environment”
“Our results for the third quarter of fiscal year 2025 reflect a challenging market environment as we continue to grapple with the complexities of the current global situation,” said Jeremy Nixon, CEO of ONE. “While market dynamics impacted our business performance in the quarter, we continue to focus on disciplined capacity management, cost control and the ongoing optimization of our network to strengthen our operational stability. By leveraging strategic partnerships, we are consolidating a reliable service network to serve our customers even better.”
In the coming months, the shipping company plans to further improve port calls and rotations “on some services” and to continuously review its freight portfolio. The uncertain political situation — particularly with regard to the United States — will also be actively monitored. US tariffs and policies of the United States Trade Representative (USTR), as well as related developments, are considered key factors. Although the port fees to be levied on Chinese ships have been suspended for one year, no agreement has yet been reached in this dispute.
