ONE Q1 revenue drops 58%, profit plunges 91%

Ocean Network Express (ONE) reported a 58 percent decline in revenue at $3.8 billion for the first quarter of 2023 on four percent decline in liftings at 2.8 million TEUs.

Net profit plunged 91 percent to $513 million as "the supply and demand balance has not recovered in the East-West trades, resulting in a gradual downward trend for short-term freight rate levels," says an official release.

Compared to Q42022, "the North America eastbound liftings increased due to improvement of the port congestion while the utilisation rates decreased in line with improved vessel turnover. Asia-Europe trade westbound volumes increased (mainly to the Mediterranean) while vessel utilisation remained unchanged. Compared to the same period last year, Asia-North America remained similar in liftings, while Asia-Europe experienced a decrease."

ONE Innovation, the first of six long-term chartered 24,000 TEU vessels from Shoei Kisen Kaisha (June 2023), was delivered and deployed on Asia-Europe trade. Subsequent vessels would be delivered in FY2023.

"Their revenue per TEU declined -57% compared to the same quarter last year. CTS data for the market development is only known up to May and hence not for full Q2 yet," says container shipping expert Lars Jensen in his LinkedIn post.

Difficult to predict 2023
ONE says it is extremely difficult to announce a reasonable business forecast at this time, "and the full-year forecast for FY2023 is yet to be determined. ONE is committed to stabilising its performance while responding flexibly to while maintaining the flexibility to respond to changes in the business environment."