Thank you all very much for joining us today. This is the Mitsui O.S.K. Lines Fiscal Year 2022 first quarter business performance briefing. My name is Sonoda of the Corporate Communications Department. We thank you for your continued support of our company. CFO Umemura will now present our business performance results using the document shown on the screen.
Hello, this is CFO Umemura. I'd like to give you an overview of the first quarter results and also the fiscal year 2022 full year forecast. First, let me share with you the figures for the first quarter. In a nutshell, the results were very strong. Business profit, which is the sum of operating profit and equity in earnings of affiliates, amounted to JPY 266.3 billion and ordinary profit to JPY 284.1 billion.
Net income achieved JPY 285.7 billion, a significant increase compared to the same period last year, all were higher than in the fourth quarter of FY 2021, and we have achieved the highest quarterly profits on record. There are no changes to the full year forecasts from those figures disclosed at the appropriate time on July 21st.
Considering the current market conditions and after carefully examining the impact of the yen's depreciation, the forecast for ordinary profit has been revised upwards from the initial forecast announced on the 28th of April from JPY 550 billion to JPY 710 billion, and the forecast for net profit has also been revised upwards from JPY 500 billion to JPY 700 billion.
In line with the upward revision of the earnings forecast, the planned interim dividend has been revised from JPY 200 announced at the end of April to JPY 300. The planned year-end dividend from JPY 150 to JPY 200, and the full year dividend from JPY 350 to JPY 500. Let me touch upon the detail of these numbers using the financial report document relevant pages.
Please go to pages five and seven of the presentation. Revenue was up by JPY 85.9 billion from the same period of the previous year. Despite concerns about the lockdown in Shanghai and the impact of the situation of Russia and Ukraine, the first quarter saw an increase in revenues, mainly due to the maintenance of firm freight rates in the Dry Bulk and Car Carrier businesses.
As mentioned earlier, both business profit and ordinary profit increased. Business profit increased by JPY 167 billion and ordinary profit increased by almost JPY 180 billion. Here onwards would be the detail of each segment. Three main segments, Dry Bulk, Energy and Product Transport, all increased their profits.
The increases in profits were due, as you may have guessed, to number one, the solid demand for containerized cargo transport, two, the higher investment income from Ocean Network Express, ONE, an equity method affiliate. Three, the Car Carrier business increasing profits due to flexible replacement of routes and cargoes in response to fluctuations in demand. Four, the Product Transportation business significantly increased profits on an ordinary income basis by approximately JPY 160 billion.
ONE continues to make a significant profit contribution, but even if it's excluded, ordinary profits exceeded JPY 50 billion in the first quarter. Now by segment, please see page four and the middle part of page five. In the Dry Bulk business, ordinary profit increased by JPY 12 billion year-on-year to JPY 18.5 billion, with all vessel types reporting a year-on-year increase in a profit.
By ship type, firstly, iron ore and coal carriers, Capesize bulk carriers recorded a year-on-year increase supported by solid transport demand, particularly steel demand in China, and also due to the change in the accounting method for fuel costs came into effect from the current year.
The spot market started at a low level in April due to the lockdown in Shanghai, China, but rose to the $40,000 a day level in May as a result of a sharp increase in demand for coal for India. Since then, due to a lull in demand for coal transport and other factors, the supply-demand balance for shipping has eased somewhat, falling to the $20,000 a day level and is currently staying at a similar level.
Medium and small sized bulkers and wood chip carriers operated by MOL Drybulk and coasters are also performing well. For coastal ships, the market is strong with increased demand for transporting the biomass fuel coconut shell, PKS. As for MOL Drybulk, profits increased here too year-over-year. Other significant profit contributors include the open hatch vessels bulkers operated by Gearbulk, an equity method affiliate.
In addition to solid cargo movement of pulp and paper, main cargo, we're taking general bulkers on our return voyages and hence the improved market conditions for general bulkers have improved our earnings. Energy business. Our energy business recorded an ordinary income of JPY 9.5 billion, an increase of JPY 5.1 billion year-on-year.
There has been a sub-segment reorganization earlier this year and all the sub-segments, including the tanker and offshore business and the liquefied gas business have all achieved year-on-year profit growth. Let me explain in more detail, sub-segment by sub-segment. Tanker and offshore business. Cargo movements of crude oil carriers are showing a slight recovery trend due to the gradual easing of OPEC's coordinated production cuts in line with increased oil demand in response to the recovery trend in the global economy.
However, the oversupply of shipping capacity was not resolved in the first quarter and the market conditions remained challenging. Meanwhile, the market for petroleum product vessels remained high due to increased sea transport needs for alternative procurement of petroleum products from Russia.
As a result, the tanker business recorded a year-on-year increase in profits. In the offshore business, the FPSO business saw a year-on-year increase in profit due to the Brazil offshore FPSO project coming on stream. The next is a liquefied gas business. The LNG carriers, as you know, have existing long-term contracts which ensure stable profits.
In the FSRU business, one existing vessel was in a period of turning around and conversion work for a project in Hong Kong, but the vessel was additionally put into operation in Singapore before the Hong Kong project went into operation, resulting in an increase in profit over the same period last year.
Next is the Product Transport business. In the Product Transport business, firstly, in the container ships business, investment income of JPY 232.9 billion was recorded from ONE, an equity method affiliate, resulting in an increase of JPY 159.6 billion compared to the same period last year. Ordinary profit amounted to JPY 249.8 billion in the first quarter alone. For the container ship business, please find the ONE's magenta color document, page three.
As noted at the top of this page, there has been some softening in the supply and demand. However, freight market conditions remained strong. The company achieved a profit after tax of $5,499 million, approximately $5.5 billion in the first quarter, an increase of $2,940 million compared to the same period last year. As for the market environment, we have been observing, as described here on the document, the followings.
First, global cargo demand remained strong in the period April to June, with no major disruptions despite the impact of the Shanghai lockdown and the Russia-Ukraine crisis. Two, on the supply side, port congestion showed signs of improvement in some areas, but worsened in the east coast of North America and elsewhere. Supply chain disruptions continued worldwide.
Three, this resulted in freight rates remaining significantly higher than in the same period last year, boosting profits. A waterfall chart is provided at the bottom of this page comparing this quarter and the first quarter of fiscal year 2021. As you can see, the main reason for the increase in a profit is the increase in revenue due to higher freight rates. Volumes tended to soften slightly due to the Shanghai lockdown and the situation in Russia and Ukraine.
However, firm utilization rate was maintained and freight levels remained significantly higher than in the same period of the previous year. Long-term contracts reflecting the high spot freight rates to date have contributed to profits. Please find more details on the next page of the ONE document. Be great if you can check the page later.
Now let's return to page six of our blue document. Let me start again from where we left off in the Product Transport businesses section, Car Carriers. In the Car Carrier segment, the number of vehicles transported remained more or less the same level as in the previous year, despite the continued impact of COVID on the finished vehicle production and shipment from the Shanghai lockdown, giving parts supply shortages, supply chain disruptions.
This was a result of continued efforts to capture demand for the transport of used cars, as well as flexible vessel allocation adjustments in line with the production and shipment of finished vehicles. Terminal and logistics business. The terminal and logistics business were included in the container ships business until last year, but they have been itemized separately as a sub-segment from this year.
In the terminals business, profit increased as container handling volumes remained strong despite the ongoing logistics turmoil. In addition, in the logistics business, air and sea freight cargo volumes remained strong, resulting in a year-on-year increase in profits. Ferries and in coastal RoRo ships. There were no emergency declaration or priority measures to prevent the spread of the disease, the pandemic, COVID-19, coming from the government in the first quarter.
Hence, the number of passengers improved significantly with the demand during the long holiday, Golden Week, along with other periods. The recovery trend was also maintained in the logistics business. Real estate business. As you know, our real estate business has a Daibiru at its core. Despite a year-on-year decline in profits coming from the reconstruction of some office buildings owned by Daibiru, profits remained stable. Associated businesses.
Due to increased sales operations, the cruise ship business improved its profit loss status compared to the same period last year. The tugboat business saw a year-on-year decline in profit, mainly due to higher bunker oil prices, although the situation differs at each port or each company. This concludes the overview of the first quarter financial results. Now let me cover the forecast for the fiscal year 2022 full year.
As indicated in the appropriate disclosure on twenty-first of July, the forecasts have been revised upwards, considering the current performance and other factors. This year's results are expected to be close to the record profits achieved in the previous year. We're focusing results considering the expected slowdown of the global economy in the second half, as we assumed at the beginning of this fiscal year.
With the global inflation continuing to rise and various figures showing a slight slowdown in the economy, the forecast that a cargo movement will weaken from the second half of the year onwards for all types of vessels remain unchanged from how we predicted back in April. The exchange rate assumption has been revised from JPY 120 to the dollar, which was assumed in April to JPY 125 to the dollar, considering the fact the yen has weakened since the beginning of the pre-period. This page provides a general overview of our full year forecasts. Revenue has been revised upwards by JPY 117 billion from the previous announcement to JPY 1,470 billion. Profit figures have also been revised upwards.
Ordinary profit has been revised upwards by JPY 710 billion, and a net profit has been revised upwards by JPY 700 billion. Ordinary profit, excluding the container ship business, is also expected to exceed the previous year's full year result by JPY 125 billion due to upward revisions in the Dry Bulk and Car Carrier businesses. Next is segment by segment. The Dry Bulk business has revised its forecast by 20 billion yen from the previous forecast to an expected full year ordinary profit of 50 billion yen. As for iron ore and coal carriers, the Capesize bulker market requires attention to trends in the Chinese government economic stimulus measures and also to the global weather.
Still, cargo movements are expected to remain firm due to solid iron ore shipment from Australia, and as in previous years, an anticipated increase in Brazilian iron ore shipments as the second half of the year progresses. The market for small and medium-sized bulkers and wood chips carriers operated by MOL Drybulk is also expected to remain strong. Open hatch bulkers, listed as other, are also expected to continue to perform well. In particular, Gearbulk, which operates open hatch bulkers, has its financial year ending in December, and we expect it to continue to perform well until the end of their fiscal year, December. Energy business. The energy business has also revised its forecast by JPY 4 billion from the forecast announced at the end of April to a full year forecast of a JPY 26 billion ordinary profit.
Let me now provide you a brief description of each sub-segment. Tankers and offshore business. With regard to crude oil carriers, the risk of a softening market remains if the global economy slows down due to interest rate hikes in various countries. However, the market is expected to improve if the supply-demand balance for shipping tightens due to an increase in cargo movement following the end of coordinated crude oil production cuts or an increase in the scrapping.
As reported in the quarterly results, the market for petroleum product vessels is expected to remain high, supported by demand for alternative procurement of petroleum products from Russia and firm demand from China, South America, and other countries. Liquefied gas business. The energy carrier business continues to maintain stable profits in the liquefied gas business.
However, profits are expected to fall year-on-year due to the expiry of an existing long-term contract, which has brought significant earnings until now. On the other hand, as explained in the first quarter results, the FSRU business is expected to see a year-on-year increase in profits due to the acquisition of an additional contract in Singapore and its operation. Product Transport business. For the Product Transport business, the forecast has been revised upwards by JPY 162 billion from the forecast announced at the end of April to a full year forecast of JPY 630 billion in ordinary profit. First, container ships.
Reflecting stronger cargo movements and freight market conditions, the forecast for container ship business has been revised upwards by JPY 145 billion from the forecast announced at the end of April to JPY 585 billion in ordinary profit. MOL expects both cargo volumes and freight rates to soften from the second half of the year onwards, as previously forecasted due to easing congestion in port and inland transport, rising inventories of consumer goods in Europe and the U.S., and the future progression of inflation and unstable global conditions.
At the beginning of this year, we assumed that the softening of the market conditions would become apparent sooner than how it's showing. As the current utilization rate is still close to 100%, we now expect this level of utilization to continue until early autumn and hence have revised our forecasts upwards. Car Carriers.
Although there are concerns about the impact of shortages of semiconductors and other components on sales and production of finished vehicles, demand is strong, especially in North America, as there has not been an adequate supply of new cars, and transport volumes are expected to continue on a recovery path. Having the outstanding performance in the first quarter as a solid foundation, MOL expects to further increase its profits by making flexible vessel allocation adjustments in line with the future cargo movements.
Next is a terminal logistics business. Here too, with the outstanding performance in the first quarter as its foundation, the volume of goods handled is expected to remain strong with year-on-year growth in profit anticipated to exceed initial expectations. Ferries and coastal Ro-Ro ships vessel.
In the passenger business, although another surge in the number of people infected of COVID-19 are happening, passenger demand recovery is expected to come as anticipated because restrictions on people's behavior and actions are easing. We're hence expecting this business to return to profitability. Real estate business.
As mentioned in the first quarter, rental income is expected to decline due to the reconstruction of owned properties. Still, profits are expected to remain strong, mainly due to high occupancy rates in overseas properties. Associated businesses. With a relaxed restriction on people's movements, cruise ships and the travel industry businesses are expected to see demand recovery. Profitability is hence expected to improve too. Finally, I'd like to touch upon the dividends.
As mentioned at the beginning of this report, in line with the upward revision of the earnings forecast, the interim dividend has been raised by JPY 100 from the previous announcement in April to JPY 300 per share. The planned year-end dividend has also been raised by JPY 50 to JPY 200 per share, and the full year dividend by JPY 150 to JPY 500 per share. The shares have been split into three as of first of April, and that is the prerequisite in our dividend discussion, I just shared with you. The dividend payout ratio continues to be maintained at 20% for the current financial year too. This concludes my presentation part. If there are any messages from our presenters, please use the remaining time to do so. Well then, I will briefly.
As I said earlier, we have had a robust financial performances. The container business is a significant contributor to our profits, but we also make a lot of profit in other sectors. It's already July end, and it will probably continue to be quite strong until the end of the first half. Great performances will continue. As for the second half of the year, a slowdown in the global economy and technical recession seems to be both inevitable given the current situation in Europe and U.S. We're hence expecting a slight decline in the ocean freight market as a result. The tricky part is how much the decline it will be, very difficult to estimate.
While we will strive to secure JPY 710 billion level ordinary profit, if freight market conditions and cargo movements turn out to be better than we assumed, then we can achieve an increase in earnings in the second half of the year as well. We will reconsolidate the figures with a more detailed analysis of the situation at the timing of the second quarter results announcement. That's it. Thank you.
Thank you all very much once again for joining us today. This concludes our financial results briefing. Thank you very much for your participation. Thank you.