【Financial Highlights Brief Report for FY2025】
A. Financial Highlights for FY2025
A-1. Financial Results for FY2025
Operating revenues for fiscal year 2025 were 1,018.3 billion yen, a decrease of 29.5 billion yen from the last fiscal year. Operating income was 84.1 billion yen, down 18.6 billion yen from the last fiscal year. Ordinary income was 109.1 billion yen, down 198.9 billion yen from the last fiscal year. Net income attributable to owners of parent was 132.9 billion yen, down 172.3 billion yen from the last fiscal year.
The average exchange rate was 150.23 yen per U.S. dollar, and the average bunker price was 528 dollars per metric ton.
When compared to the last fiscal year, the decline in operating income was mainly due to decreased profits in the Car Carrier Business. The decline in ordinary income was mainly due to a significant decrease in profits in the Containership Business. Net income attributable to owners of parent includes factors such as the sale of owned vessels and subsidiary shares, as well as a revision to deferred tax assets, etc.
In terms of the financial position, equity capital was 1,802.7 billion yen, interest-bearing liability was 296.0 billion yen, and DER was 16.4%. The equity ratio was approximately 77%, or approximately 60% on a basis including off-balance-sheet charter hire.
For shareholder returns for fiscal year 2025, the year-end dividend is 60 yen per share, as announced in February 2026, and combined with the interim dividend of 60 yen, the total annual dividend is 120 yen per share.
A-2. Financial Results for FY2025 by Segment
Here are the full-year financial results by segment. In the Dry Bulk segment, although market conditions recovered in the second half of fiscal year 2025, profits declined year on year due to market conditions that remained at low levels in the first quarter, as well as the impact of disputes at loading ports, etc.
In the Energy Resource Transport segment, LNG carriers, thermal coal carriers, VLCCs, LPG carriers, and other vessel types have secured stable profits under medium-to-long-term charter contracts. Additionally, profits increased due to the absence of impairment losses recorded in fiscal year 2024 and the reassessment of tax effects conducted in fiscal year 2025.
In the Product Logistics segment, overall profits decreased. In the Car Carrier Business, despite impacts from U.S. trade policies and the deterioration in the situation in the Middle East, the number of units transported increased. However, profits declined due to increased operating costs and the impact of the situation in the Middle East.
In the Containership Business, as with the Car Carrier Business, the business was affected by U.S. trade policies and the worsening situation in the Middle East, and profits declined sharply due to higher ship costs resulting from the delivery of newbuild vessels as well as a decline in freight rates.
B. Forecasts and Initiatives for FY2026
B-1. Forecasts for FY2026 and Key Factors
I will explain the full-year forecast for fiscal year 2026. As for the assumptions underlying the earnings forecast, it is assumed that the closure of the Strait of Hormuz will continue through the end of June, with passage resuming from July onward. We do not expect passage through the Suez Canal to resume until the end of the fiscal year, with operations continuing via the Cape of Good Hope route.
The Bunker price is expected to decline gradually from July onward, following the end of the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, with an average price for the full year projected at 697 dollars. The average exchange rate for the full year is assumed to be 150.82 yen.
Based on these assumptions, the full-year forecast for fiscal year 2026 is for operating revenues of 1,020.0 billion yen, operating income of 83.0 billion yen, ordinary income of 100.0 billion yen, down 9.1 billion yen year on year, and net income attributable to owners of parent of 95.0 billion yen, down 37.9 billion yen year on year.
The key factors incorporated in this forecast include geopolitical risks such as the situation in the Middle East, as well as foreign exchange valuation losses and other factors. A one-yen change in the exchange rate has an impact of plus or minus 1.5 billion yen, while a ten-dollar change in the bunker price has an impact of plus or minus 70 million yen.
For fiscal year 2026, we plan an annual dividend of 120 yen per share. We are continuing to consider the previously announced flexible additional shareholder returns of 50.0 billion yen or more, in light of the current business environment. We plan to implement this within the current fiscal year and will announce the details at an appropriate time once finalized.
B-2. Forecasts for FY2026 by Segment
Here are the forecasts by segment. In the Dry Bulk segment, we expect an increase in profits driven by solid transportation demand, including recent developments, as well as market conditions that are anticipated to exceed last year’s levels.
In the Energy Resource Transport segment, profits are expected to decline due to a temporary gap under the long-term charter contracts for some vessel types, reflecting the transition between outgoing and incoming vessels, as well as the absence of one-time gains recorded in fiscal year 2025.
For the Car Carrier Business in the Product Logistics segment, we expect a decline in profits due to decreased cargo volumes bound for the Middle East caused by the worsening situation in the region, as well as increased operating costs, such as fuel expenses.
For the Containership Business, we expect results to be in line with the last year, as the uncertain business environment continues due to geopolitical risks, including the situation in the Middle East.
This concludes my explanation of the financial results for fiscal year 2025 and the forecast for fiscal year 2026.
C. Status and Progress of the Medium-term Management Plan
C-1.【Capital Policy】Capital Policy Progress and Corporate Value Improvement
The slide outlines several areas of focus, and I will briefly explain the key points.
Regarding enhancing earning power, as previously explained, operating cash flow during the current Medium-term Management Plan period ending in the fiscal year 2026 is still projected to reach 1.5 trillion yen.
For investment plans, investment cash flow during the current Medium-term Management Plan period is projected at 610.0 billion yen, unchanged from the previous announcement.
As for our shareholder return policy, we continue to plan shareholder returns of 800.0 billion yen or more, with no change from the previous announcement.
As shown on the slide, there is no change to our plan to implement flexible additional shareholder returns of 50.0 billion yen or more, which I explained earlier, during the current fiscal year. Details regarding the form such returns will take will be appropriately disclosed once determined.
ROIC information is shown on the top right of the slide. Under the Medium-term Management Plan, we had set a target of achieving ROIC of 6% to 7%. However, the forecast for fiscal year 2026 is being affected by the worsening situation in the Middle East, and based on this, we are currently projecting ROIC at 5%.
C-2.【Capital Policy】Cash Allocation
This slide summarizes our cash allocation. The planned cash inflows remain at 1.5 trillion yen, and there is no change to cash outflows, allocating 610.0 billion yen in investment cash flow. There has likewise been no change to the shareholder return plan of 800.0 billion yen or more.
As previously announced, regarding the 80.0 billion yen management allocation, details will be appropriately disclosed once decisions have been made regarding how it will be utilized.
C-3.【Capital Policy】Business Investment Plan
The slide shows the breakdown of the investment cash flow of 610.0 billion yen. Of the 610.0 billion yen, we continue to invest in the three businesses that play a role of driving growth—primarily Coal & Iron Ore Carriers, Car Carriers, and LNG Carriers—although some revisions have been made.
Within the overall plan, we also intend to continue investments related to environmental initiatives, including environmentally friendly vessels such as LNG-fueled vessels, liquefied CO₂ transport vessels, and the ongoing development of Seawing, for which research and development activities are continuing.
C-4.【Capital Policy】Shareholder’s Return Policy
This slide provides details on our shareholder return policy. Overall, our policy to return 800.0 billion yen or more to shareholders during the Medium-term Management Plan period remains unchanged, as I have been explaining.
Please refer to the detailed table on the right side of the slide. For fiscal year 2026, which is the final year of the current Medium-term Management Plan, we plan an annual dividend of 120 yen per share and flexible additional shareholder returns of 50.0 billion yen or more, which will be announced once the details are finalized. Combining these, the total shareholder return plan for fiscal year 2026 amounts to 127.0 billion yen.
D. Review of the Current Medium-term Management Plan and Key Priority for the Next Medium-term Management Plan
D-1. Business Environment and Financial Results under the Current Medium-term Management Plan
We have prepared several slides showing the review of our current Medium-term Management Plan and the key priorities for the next Medium-term Management Plan. As I mentioned earlier, fiscal year 2026 will be the final year of the current Medium-term Management Plan. In addition, it has been roughly one year since I assumed the position of President & CEO.
“K” Line is currently formulating the next Medium-term Management Plan for fiscal year 2027 onward, and these slides summarize several important points that I would like to explain today. This slide summarizes our results from fiscal year 2020 and throughout the current Medium-term Management Plan period.
As you may recall, we experienced the COVID-19 pandemic in fiscal year 2020 and the conflict in Ukraine in fiscal year 2022. Since then, our business environment has continued to face significant changes, including geopolitical risks such as the worsening situation in the Middle East, and U.S. trade policies.
Even under such circumstances, we have been able to enhance the stability of “K” Line’s own businesses during the current Medium-term Management Plan period. Additionally, in the Containership Business, although we have experienced some large fluctuations in performance, we believe we have firmly captured earnings upside.
On the bar chart at the lower part of the slide, the red bars represent ordinary income, and the blue bars represent net profit before tax. The dark red and dark blue portions represent ”K“ Line’s own businesses, and the portions above them represent figures for the Containership Business.
With respect to “K” Line’s own businesses, conditions were particularly difficult in fiscal year 2020 and fiscal year 2021, and ordinary income fell into the red in fiscal year 2020. Subsequently however, performance gradually began to recover.
Despite dramatic changes in the business environment from fiscal year 2022 onward, I believe we have been able to steadily accumulate ordinary income and net profit through fiscal year 2026.
In the final year of the Plan, the ordinary income is likely to fall short of the 90.0 billion yen target due to various factors, including the situation in the Persian Gulf. However, over the five-year period as a whole, we recognize that we have steadily built a stable earnings base.
The Containership Business secured substantial earnings, particularly in fiscal years 2021 and 2022. Although there were fluctuations in earnings thereafter, we believe that, we have captured earnings upside overall.
In particular, if you look at the figures presented in the table at the bottom of the slide, ROIC for “K” Lineʼs own businesses achieved the target range of 6% to 7% in the fiscal years 2022, 2024, and 2025. For the Containership Business, the target was achieved particularly in the fiscal years 2022 and 2024, when performance was especially strong.
However, invested capital has increased significantly, from a total of 1.4 trillion yen as of fiscal year 2020, including off-balance-sheet charter hire, to a current total of 2.6 trillion yen.
D-2. Review of the Current Medium-term Management Plan
This slide provides further details. Overall, as shown in the heading in white text, we believe we have made significant progress in stabilizing “K" Line’s own businesses and enhancing shareholder returns. However, we recognize that challenges remain in certain areas regarding improving capital efficiency and investing in business growth.
In particular, as a measure of market valuation of our initiatives, we consider it a key management priority to achieve and consistently maintain a PBR (price-to-book ratio) above 1.0.
Looking at the PBR trends shown in the top row of the table on this slide, the ratio has not yet exceeded 1.0 from fiscal year 2022 through fiscal year 2025, including the current period. Going forward, we intend to make a firm effort to consistently maintain a PBR above 1.0.
Total investment cash flow amounts to 610.0 billion yen. For fiscal year 2026, the final year of the current Medium-term Management Plan, we plan investment of 120.0 billion yen, and we are proceeding with these investments while maintaining discipline.
Meanwhile, with some investments being deferred to the next Medium-term Management Plan period, we aim to steadily advance investments for growth while maintaining selectivity.
For ordinary income, the Containership Business has secured significant profits. While “K” Line’s own businesses have been stable, results for fiscal year 2026 are expected to fall below the target.
We recognize that challenges remain in certain areas in order to consistently achieve a PBR above 1.0 while ensuring stable growth and stable profitability.
Our target for ROE is to sustainably maintain 10% or more. We have achieved high figures in periods when the Containership Business performed strongly. ROE was 7% in fiscal year 2023 and 8% in fiscal year 2025, and while some businesses achieved ROE of 10% or more, we recognize that there remains room for improvement in other businesses. For fiscal year 2026, we expect the company-wide ROE to be 5%, partly due to the impact of the situation in the Middle East.
ROE remains a major challenge; as it is a key metric for achieving a PBR above 1.0, we will continue to address this issue steadily going forward.
ROIC is as presented on the slide, and we recognize that challenges remain in this metric as well. The equity ratio, including off-balance-sheet charter hire, has been trending at approximately 60% or slightly below 60%.
I will elaborate on this in the next slide, but from the perspective of improving capital efficiency, we view the equity ratio as slightly high. We believe that optimizing this ratio will be an extremely important issue for “K” Line going forward, and we are currently working on formulating the next Medium-term Management Plan.
The total shareholder return of 800.0 billion yen or more is marked in green, as we have achieved this well above our initial plan, as I explained earlier.
D-3. Key Priority for the Next Medium-term Management Plan
We are determined to further advance toward our goal of consistently achieving a PBR above 1.0. In this context, we place great emphasis on ROE and position achieving 15% or higher over the medium to long term as a major pillar of our next Medium-term Management Plan.
To realize this goal, we intend to work steadily on both continuing profit growth and continuing improvements in capital efficiency.
For specific initiatives, please refer to the three items listed at the lower part of the slide.
Firstly, the growth strategy for “K” Line’s own businesses. We plan to focus on strengthening our operations and functional strategies, which serve as the sources of our competitiveness, thereby reinforcing our business model.
We believe it is necessary to concentrate investments on businesses where we have strengths, limit investments in businesses whose returns are below the cost of capital, and, where appropriate, proceed decisively with portfolio reshaping.
We will also actively utilize M&A to accelerate growth in priority businesses and strengthen our operations and functional strategies. As the next Medium-term Management Plan is under consideration, we are not yet at the stage of explaining all details comprehensively. However, we are formulating our growth strategy for “K” Line’s own businesses from these perspectives.
Secondly, we address the challenges in the Containership Business. At OCEAN NETWORK EXPRESS (ONE), a new CEO is scheduled to take office.
I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude and deep appreciation to Mr. Jeremy Nixon, the current CEO, for navigating ONE through the challenging times since its founding and for his steadfast leadership in steering ONE to its current position.
Moving into a new stage, ONE will aim for further development under the leadership of its new CEO. As a shareholder, we will work together with the new CEO to rigorously address challenges. We have identified three key points.
First challenge is to further strengthen ONE’s business competitiveness. Second is to improve capital efficiency and achieve an optimal capital structure. Third is to further enhance governance in preparation for the new stage.
We believe these points are of critical importance for the entire Containership Business of “K” Line, as well as for business operations of ONE. Accordingly, we will continue to earnestly address these challenges.
Thirdly, let me explain our capital policy. Regarding cash allocation, as shown in the slide, we will continue to pursue disciplined growth investments, and while ensuring capital efficiency and financial soundness, we will actively return capital to shareholders. This policy remains unchanged from the current Medium-term Management Plan.
Regarding capital efficiency, our current equity ratio, including off-balance-sheet charter hire, is generally around 60% or slightly below 60%. As an initial step, we aim to optimize our capital structure in the short term, targeting an equity ratio of around 50% including off-balance-sheet charter hire.
Although it is difficult to achieve this within a single year, we will proceed while closely monitoring future investment and M&A trends. We have not made any specific decisions at this time, but we believe that properly optimizing our capital structure, in combination with shareholder returns, will be one of the key points for the next Medium-term Management Plan.
Our highest priority is to achieve a balance between financial soundness and capital efficiency. We are formulating the details based on the policy outlined earlier. For the next Medium-term Management Plan, we will finalize the specific details centered around these major initiatives.
