[Company analysis] Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, Ltd. (川崎汽船)

「Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, Ltd. (川崎汽船)」is one of the three Japanese major shipping companies(「Nippon Yusen K.K.(日本郵船)」,「Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, Ltd.(川崎汽船)」and「Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd.(商船三井)」)　. In the past, this company was a member of Kawasaki Zaibatsu together with「Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Ltd.(川崎重工業)」. However, current「Kawasaki Kisen」is the only non-zaibatsu company among the three major shipping companies. Since there is no succession from the group companies, it is characterized by an enterprising business development regardless of the conservative stereo type. The number of consolidated employees is approximately 6,022.

 

1. Company Profile

2. Summary and Features

3. Major Business

4. Financial Information

 

 

 

1. Company Profile

 

※Unit is JPY million, as of 2019

Company name	Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, Ltd.
Company name (Japanese)	川崎汽船
Date of establishment	Saturday, April 5, 1919
Headquarters location	〒100-8540 東京都千代田区内幸町2丁目1番1号
Capital	75,458
Consolidated sales	836,731
Consolidated operating profit	(24,736)
Consolidated total assets	951,261
Consolidated capital	181,233
Capital adequacy ratio	19.1%
Consolidated number of employees	6,022

 

 

 

2. Summary and Features

 
Originally,「Kawasaki Kisen」was the shipping division of「Kawasaki Heavy Industries」. By the independence, 「Kawasaki Kisen」was established on April 1, 1919. Among the shipping companies in Japan, in terms of scale, it ranks third in Japan, following「Nippon Yusen(日本郵船)」and「MOL(三井商船)」.  Compared to the top two companies, this company has higher dependency on container business, it is about 50% of sales.

 

 

In order to strengthen cost competitiveness in the future, they decided to reduce the small and medium-sized dry bulk fleet that is very susceptible to market conditions. And for the container ship business, that is becoming more and more oligopoly, they decided to integrate the business with「NYK」and「MOL」. According to this event, From 2018,「Ocean Network Express」, the largest container shipping company in Japan with the 6th largest fleet in the world (1.44 million TEU), was established.

 

While「NYK」, the leader in the Japanese shipping industry, is actively diversifying its business,「Kawasaki Kisen」 aims to reduce business risks in the shipping industry and secure stable profits. As for sales, the shipping business, like「MOL」, accounts for 90% of the total. Recently, they have introduced a state-of-the-art ship and have taken a strategy of differentiation in cost and service. With this, they are trying to increase the number of non-scheduled charter ship contract that guarantee stable profits in the medium to long term.

 

「Kawasaki Kisen」is a relatively enterprising company culture compared to other shipping companies. This company is the first company in Japan who introduced a vehicle carrier and LNG carrier. In the container ship business, they anticipated demand for container ships before it became popular, so they aggressively promoted containerization ahead of other companies. Besides,「NYK」and「MOL」have been increasing their scale through repeated mergers, but「Kawasaki Kisen」is a company that has grown up by accumulating the aforementioned successes.

 

 

 

3. Major Business

 

■ Container ship business

■ Non-scheduled charter ship

■ Marine resource development / heavy-weight ship

 

 

 

4. Financial information

 

※Unit is JPY million

		2016	2017	2018
Consolidated sales		1,030,191	1,162,025	836,731
Consolidated operating profit		-46,037	7,219	-24,736
Consolidated total assets		1,045,209	1,041,766	951,261
Consolidated net assets		245,482	243,094	181,233
Breakdown of sales	Container ship business	518,954	598,473	273,826
	Non-scheduled charter ship	456,541	521,156	88,701
	Marine resource development / heavy-weight ship	35,274	7,472	441,028
	Others	19,420	34,922	33,175