After last year marking a »major turning p[ds_preview]oint« for the company, NYK‘s president Tadaaki Naito expects 2017 to be a year for »bold steps«.
»The year 2016 was a turbulent one, the maritime shipping market remained sluggish.
Last year marked a major turning point also for the NYK Group«, Naito said in a New Year message. The company posted a large sum in losses, and recorded a substantial decline in capital stock. He called the groups employees to be fully aware of the fact that shareholders are very troubled »with our decision to not pay a dividend for the first time in 52 years«.
As NYK decided to form a joint venture with Japan‘s other main players K Line and MOL, preparation for the integration would have a major impact on the entire group. Therefore 2017 would be »a year for bold steps toward positioning the NYK Group for the times ahead«. In an own New Years Message, K Line management had already emphasized the joint venture as a bearer of hope.
To cope with the future challenges, Naito pronounced a new medium-term management plan to commence in fiscal 2018, a plan that takes into account the integration of the container shipping business. In addition, he intends to focus on group management. »That means, increasing the corporate value of the NYK Group by effectively utilizing and optimally deploying operational resources, including human resources, and overhauling our group-wide management structure.«
The Liner Trade segment is supposed to to remain NYK‘s core business after the integration in April next year. Apart from that, Naito named logistics business becoming a more strategically important part. »For the future, we need to expand the scale of this business and enhance its operations.« In the dry bulk market, the president sees »a great advantage« to realize differentiation based on »creative solutions«, without giving more details. In the LNG market, he expects future growth, for example in Africa, where another round of new business is foreseen in various countries from 2020. Even for the tanker market, there is some optimism: »While market trends related to very large crude carriers, LPG tankers, and chemical tankers are distinct, I expect these operations to grow as businesses that can secure stable freight rates.«
