Highs and lows for RCL in 2018
The Thailand-based container shipping line Regional Container Lines (RCL) reported a 5% rise in revenue 2018 compared to 2017 to THB 12,262 million (EUR 340 million). The surge in volumes on a year-on-year-basis amounted to 6.3%.
The volumes handled for the two core businesses for 2018 were approx. 870,000 teus for shipper owned containers and 1,240,000 teus for carrier owned containers, representing a year-on-year increase of 9.7% and 11.9%, respectively.
Expenses of THB 12,721 million (EUR 350 million), an increase of 13%, however spoiled the results. One of the reasons given was a 33.6% rise in bunker charges. Thus, the RCL Group reported a loss of THB 356 million (EUR 9.8 million) for the year 2018 against a profit of THB 533.2 million (EUR 14-8 million) in 2017. Cost containment is one of the goals for 2019. (kd)