Major Japanese international freight forwarder Kintetsu World Express Inc. (KWE) said on Nov. 7 that its net profit tumbled 15.9 percent in the first half of fiscal 2013, which started on April 1, from a year earlier to ¥4.064 billion ($41.2 million) on a consolidated basis.

The company’s group operating revenue rose 5.4 percent in the April-September period from the same six-month period last year to ¥134.121 billion. Its fiscal first-half group operating profit declined 7.5 percent year-on-year to ¥6.238 billion.

Looking back on the April-September period, KWE said in its earnings report, “The U.S. economy showed a gradual recovery and the European economy started to show signs of bottoming out, but the future outlook for the global economy remained uncertain due to the slowdown of economic growth in China and emerging countries.”

“As for the Japanese economy, even though exports remained sluggish, business confidence improved owing to expectations for various government policies and their actual economic effects,” KWE said.

Referring to its air and sea cargo volumes in the April-September period, the company said, “While the volume of air freight remained at low levels, the volume of sea freight showed steady growth as a result of the entire KWE group’s efforts to promote sales.”

But the Tokyo-based company did not give any clear explanation in its earnings report for the declines in both operating and net profits despite relatively sound revenue growth.

Operating revenue in the Americas, which include the U.S., Canada and Latin America, totaled ¥18.870 billion in the first half of fiscal 2013, up 17.6 percent from a year earlier. Operating profit in the Americas amounted to ¥1.008 billion, down 2.3 percent.

KWE left unchanged its initial group revenue and profit forecasts for the whole of fiscal 2013, which were announced on May 9. The firm’s full-year projections are: ¥270.000 billion in operating revenue, up 8.9 percent from fiscal 2012; ¥14.500 billion in operating profit, up 9.1 percent from fiscal 2012; ¥9.200 billion in net profit, up 0.7 percent from fiscal 2012.