The Second Five Years: 1955-1959 Mr. Yardstick’s Operational Review

Welcome ladies & gentlemen to the Benchmarkco Ltd presentation to discuss the company’s 1955-1959 5-year results. Starting with the customary disclaimers, time travelers should be aware that in today’s presentation we will be making certain backward looking statements that discuss past events and performance. These statements are subject to risk and uncertainties that could cause results of real companies to deviate from the computations of our virtual operation.

With me today is our CFO Mr Fair Squareview. During today’s meeting I will firstly review our operating performance over the last five years as well as industry trends before I pass on the presentation to Mr Squareview, who shall take you through our financial figures.

Please turn to Figure 8.

The Beginning of the Period

The period under review started on a positive note, particularly for dry cargo. Tankers made a more hesitant start until an early seasonal winter advance in tanker rates revitalized the lagging sector. Relaxation of international tension impacted positively on international trade. Towards the latter part of 1955 dry cargo freight rates achieved levels not dissimilar to those witnessed during the Korean War. Liberty ships earned more than $1500 per day, and the previous high of $2000 per day was clearly within sight until being achieved shortly after the close of the year. Confidence was boosted by the fact that the 1955 boom seemed to be founded on more solid economic foundations than the Korean boom, where the emergency situation exercised a strong but artificial influence on trade. Nevertheless, behind the superficial gloss of full utilization and remunerative employment there was once again the inevitable murky background of economic failure and misfortune that all too often seems to bring prosperity to shipowners. Slow turn-around in ports throughout the world motivated by labour disputes and inadequate handling facilities must be cited as a major contributory factor to high freight rates.

This is only an excerpt of The Second Five Years: 1955-1959 Mr. Yardstick’s Operational Review

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