Peter T. Leach | Oct 27, 2010 1:13PM EDT
Cosco Pacific, the third-largest terminal operator in Asia, more than doubled its profit in the third quarter because of the revival in container volume and higher freight rates.
Cosco Pacific, a unit of shipping firm China Cosco Holdings, said Wednesday its net profit for the three months ended Sept. 30 totaled $100 million, up from $40 million a year earlier. Revenue from continuing operations rose 28.8 percent to $107.5 million from $83.5 million in the third quarter of 2009.
The Hong Kong-based company said in a statement that its container terminal operations have benefited from the strong growth of China trade.
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By The Numbers: Container Rate Benchmark.
It said its port-handling throughput in the third quarter rose 23 percent to 13.32 million 20-foot equivalent container units from 10.84 million TEUs a year earlier.
Cosco Pacific, which has stakes in container terminals in mainland China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Belgium, Egypt and Greece, also said losses at its Piraeus Terminal in Greece had narrowed in the third quarter, though it didn't provide further financial details. The company was awarded a concession to operate the port at the end of 2009.
Cosco Pacific is Asia’s third-largest terminal operator after Hutchison Ports Holdings and Singapore-based PSA International.
-- Contact Peter T. Leach at pleach@joc.com.