Joseph Bonney | Aug 24, 2010 3:56PM EDT
Cosco Pacific said its net profit for the first half jumped 81.7 percent as its container terminal volume increased and the company booked an $84.7 million gain from selling its stake in Cosco Logistics to its parent.
Profit from continuing operations rose 20.6 percent to $107.5 million while revenue rose 40 percent to $222.7 million. Net profit, including the sale of the logistics company stake, totaled $189.9 million.
Volume at Cosco Pacific's terminals rose 18.7 percent to 22.4 million 20-foot equivalent units. The company, a unit of China Cosco Holdings, owns or has stakes in 27 terminal operators in China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Belgium, Greece and Egypt.
Cosco Pacific said volume at China terminals where it has interests rose 16.4 percent to 19.8 million TEUs, led by increases of 55.7 percent at Guangzhou South China Oceangate Container Terminal and 21.3 percent at Yantian Terminal.
The Pier 2 terminal at Piraeus, Greece, where Cosco Pacific acquired a 35-year operating concession last year, generated $46.6 million in revenue in the first half of the year but lost $10.6 million due to higher initial operating costs.
Contribution to net profit by Cosco Pacific's Florens Container Holdings, the world's second-largest container lessor, increased 29.5 percent to $48 million while revenue rose 4.4 percent to $119.4 million. Florens ordered about 100,000 TEUs of new containers in the first half of the year.
Cosco Pacific's 21.8 percent stake in China International Marine Containers, the world's largest container manufacturer, posted a 13.2 percent increase in profit to $29.4 million.
The company said the world economy "showed encouraging signs in the first half of 2010 on the back of the economic stimulus measures adopted by the governments in the world." Cosco Pacific said it expected continued "solid profitability."
Container throughput at the company's terminals will likely rise more than 10 percent in the second half, Vice Chairman Xu Minjie told reporters in Hong Kong. He said the company has been able to raise rates close to 2008 levels.
Xu said Cosco Pacific will continue to seek acquisitions in China and overseas, especially in emerging markets such as Southeast Asia, South America and Africa.
-- Contact Joseph Bonney at jbonney@joc.com.
