ITEM 2. MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
The following discussion and analysis should be read in conjunction with the Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements and related notes, and other financial information appearing elsewhere in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q.
FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
Except for historical information, the statements made in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q are forward-looking statements made pursuant to the safe-harbor provisions of the Private Security Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements may be contained in, among other things, SEC filings, such as reports on Forms 10-K, 10-Q and 8-K, the Annual Report to Shareholders, press releases made by the Company, the Company’s Internet Websites (including Websites of its subsidiaries), and oral statements made by officers of the Company.
This report, and other statements that the Company may make, may contain forward-looking statements with respect to the Company’s future financial or business performance, strategies or expectations. Forward-looking statements are typically identified by words or phrases such as “trend,” “potential,” “opportunity,” “pipeline,” “believe,” “comfortable,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “current,” “intention,” “estimate,” “position,” “assume,” “outlook,” “continue,” “remain,” “maintain,” “sustain,” “seek,” “achieve,” or similar expressions, or future or conditional verbs such as “will,” “would,” “should,” “could,” “may” or similar expressions.
The Company cautions that forward-looking statements are subject to numerous assumptions, risks and uncertainties, which change over time, including, but not limited to, the risk factors that are described in Part I, Item 1A, “Risk Factors” of Matson’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2018. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made, and the Company assumes no duty to and does not undertake any obligation to update forward-looking statements. Actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in forward-looking statements and future results could differ materially from historical performance.
OVERVIEW
Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations (“MD&A”) is designed to provide a discussion of the Company’s financial condition, results of operations, liquidity and certain other factors that may affect its future results from the perspective of management. The discussion that follows is intended to provide information that will assist in understanding the changes in the Company’s financial statements from period to period, the primary factors that accounted for those changes, and how certain accounting principles, policies and estimates affect the Company’s financial statements. MD&A is provided as a supplement to the Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements and notes herein, and should be read in conjunction with the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2018, the Company’s reports on Forms 10-Q and 8-K, and other publicly available information.
BUSINESS OUTLOOK
Ocean Transportation: The Company’s container volume in the Hawaii service in the second quarter 2019 was 2.3 percent lower year-over-year primarily due to negative container market growth. The GDP of the Hawaii economy continues to grow, albeit at a slowing pace; however, containerized freight market volume has not been keeping pace with GDP growth. The Company expects volume in 2019 to be lower than the level achieved in 2018, reflecting less containerized freight volume in Hawaii and stable market share.
In China, the Company’s container volume in the second quarter 2019 was 2.5 percent higher year-over-year. Matson continued to realize a sizeable rate premium in the second quarter 2019 and achieved average freight rates moderately higher than the second quarter 2018. For the second half of 2019, the Company expects volume to be lower than the prior year as volume normalizes to a traditional level of activity relative to the strong level achieved in the second half of 2018 resulting from the U.S.-China trade situation. For the full year 2019, the Company expects average freight rates to approach the levels achieved in 2018.