Reprint: Why the Nikkei Now Places Emphasis on “Net Profit”　 再録　日経はなぜ「純利益」を重視するのか

How the Shift Influences the Dividend Payout Ratios of Japan’s Major Shipping Companies

海運大手の配当性向にも影響

Maritime Bridge Japan published on 9 August 2025 an inside story titled Weekend Column “Why the Nikkei Now Places Emphasis on ‘Net Profit’.” The feature analysed how The Nikkei, Japan’s leading business daily covering the wider corporate economy, has shifted its earnings report headlines from “ordinary profit” to a focus on “net profit” since the previous fiscal year—examining the evolution, the reasons behind it, and its broader implications.

Key Points

→ Since 2021, Japan’s three major shipping companies—NYK, MOL, and K Line—have all, to varying degrees, centred their management strategy on how to balance “investment” and “shareholder returns.” By the end of the current fiscal year, their dividend payout ratios (the percentage of net profit paid out as dividends) are projected to rise from the 20–30% range seen over the past four years to between 40% and 70%.

→ Traditionally, Japan’s major shipping companies have maintained a “stable dividend” policy, keeping their dividend payout ratio around 30%.　However, amid the nationwide trend of corporate reporting that emphasises net profit, both investment and dividends are expected to be maintained—or to slow slightly—while key indicators directly linked to shareholders’ equity and net profit, such as ROE and payout ratio, are inevitably forced to experience temporary deterioration or unusually high multiples.

“You can read the rest of the article in both English and Japanese.”

再録　日経はなぜ「純利益」を重視するのか

海運大手の配当性向にも影響

　Maritime Bridge Japanは2025年8月9日、「Weekend Column “Why the Nikkei Now Places Emphasis on ‘Net Profit’”（週末コラム『日経はなぜ「純利益」を重視するのか』）」というインサイドストーリーを掲載した。日本企業の経済全般を扱う日本経済新聞が前期から一斉に決算報道の見出しを「経常損益」から「純損益」重視に転換。その変遷と理由、背景について解説したものだ。

この記事のポイント

→2021年以降、海運大手3社は、濃淡はあるものの、各社とも経営の中心には「投資」と「株主還元」のバランスをどうとるのか、という点があった。今期末は配当性向（純利益に対する配当支払いの割合）が過去4年間の20～30％台から40～70％台に上昇する。

→従来、海運大手は「継続配当」重視の姿勢で配当性向については30％前後を目安としてきたが、日本全般の企業を席巻している純利益重視の報道の中で、投資、配当ともに維持、もしくは鈍化させるものの、ROEや配当性向など自己資本や純利益に直結する指標は一時的に「悪化」や「過度な倍率」を余儀なくされる。

“You can read the rest of the article in both English and Japanese.”（続きは英語と日本語で書かれた本文でお読みください）

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