China Cosco halves profit as revenues plunge 63pc in downturn

 

CHINA Cosco Holdings posted a first quarter loss that more than halved profit from last year, representing a CNY3.35 billion (US$491 million) year on year net loss of CNY6.14 billion, drawn on revenues of CNY10.8 billion, down 63 per cent.

But Cosco's container operation had a CNY1.1 billion gain in the period from forward freight agreements after rates doubled in the quarter, Bloomberg reported. Yet the group expects that net profit from the beginning of the year to the next reporting period will drop more than 50 per cent against the comparable prior year period, the company said in a statement to the Hong Kong stock exchange.

Cosco Pacific Ltd, China Cosco's container-terminal unit, reported a 34 per cent decline in first-quarter profit. The unit, which owns or has stakes in 20 terminal companies, handled eight per cent fewer boxes in the first quarter than it did in the same quarter in 2008.

Source: CRIEnglish