China Merchants off 14pc, but volumes up from June to July

HONG KONG's China Merchants Holdings (International) Co, recorded a 14 per cent year-on-year first-half profit loss to HK$1.73 billion (US$223 million) from the HK$2.02 billion profit the company made in the same period last year.

In a statement to the Hong Kong stock exchange, the major investor in container terminals in China, announced that first half revenues fell 20 per cent to HK$1.65 billion.

Month to month the picture brightened though as Chinese exports increased on a seasonally adjusted basis by 5.2 per cent in July from June.

Despite the loss, China Merchants was optimistic about a coming recovery, saying the global recession may "gradually diminish."

First-half container volumes declined 19 per cent to 20.3 million TEU, said the company as movement through its mainland facilities fell 19 per cent to 17.6 million TEU in Shanghai, Shenzhen and Tianjin.

"Exports have seen a rebound from July, and it seems like a solid one," Daiwa Institute analyst Geoffrey Cheng told Bloomberg. "In the second half, China Merchant's profit probably won't decline that much."

China Merchants is expected to make a full-year profit of HK$3 billion, according to the median of nine analyst estimates complied by Bloomberg, compared with HK$3.7 billion last year.

(Source: www.schednet.com)