GEORGE F. LEE / GLEE@STARADVERTISER.COM
The Matson containership Lurline prepared to depart Honolulu Harbor on March 14.
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For the second time this year, Matson Inc. has given a heads-up to shareholders and the public by sharing “preliminary” financial results ahead of a normal quarterly earnings report.
Hawaii’s largest ocean cargo transportation firm announced Thursday that it expects its profit for the three months ended Sept. 30 will be between $67.2 million and $69.4 million.
That would top last year’s third-quarter profit of $36.2 million.
“Matson’s businesses continued to perform well in the third quarter despite the ongoing challenges from the COVID-19 pandemic and related economic effects,” Matt Cox, company chairman and CEO, said in a statement.
The company said its projected profit increase was driven by its dramatically expanded service from China begun earlier this year. Cargo volume for Matson’s Alaska and Guam service was up a little, while container volume for Hawaii was down 1%.
Matson is scheduled to release its normal earnings report for the third quarter on Nov. 2.
Correction: An earlier version of this story misstated Matson’s 2019 third-quarter profit.
