HONOLULU (AP) — Hawaii’s largest ocean cargo transportation company had a record profit last year, earning more than $103 million.
Honolulu-based Matson announced Tuesday that its earnings last year were up 46 percent from $70.8 million the previous year. The company managed to hit a record year even after reporting a lower fourth-quarter income in 2015 than in 2014, The Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported (http://bit.ly/1Q3j2PN ).
Matt Cox, the firm’s president and CEO, called 2015 an “exceptional” year.
“Financially, it was the best year in our history,” he said in a statement.
The profit increase can be attributed to Matson picking up business between the West Coast and Hawaii and acquiring operations in Alaska.
The acquisition of the Horizon Lines’ Alaska service resulted in Matson carrying 39,100 containers in that market over a seven-month period last year, compared to none in 2014.
The company also carried about 11,000 more Hawaii containers last year. Matson had picked up container and automobile shipments lost by Pasha Hawaii Transport Lines, which rearranged its service routes after dealing with one ship’s mechanical issues.
Total revenue for Matson grew by about $180 million to $1.89 billion last year, up from $1.71 billion the year before.
Fourth quarter numbers for 2015 show Matson’s profit was $26.6 million on revenue of $495 million. In 2014, the company earned $27.8 million profit on revenue of $444 million during that period.
This year, the company said it expects to see some losses with a significant decline in its China freight rates, higher costs for ship maintenance because of the Alaska service and a loss in Guam business.
The company is counting on its Alaska operations and a moderate increase in Hawaii container volume to offset the expected declines.
“The company believes that the Hawaii economy remains healthy and expects the continued progress of the construction cycle in urban Honolulu to generate modest volume growth,” Matson said in its earnings report.