Cosco Swings to Profit as Revenue Surges

China Cosco Holdings said it had third quarter net profit of $314 million, compared with a loss of $106 million a year earlier, as higher container volume and rates offset weakness in the company’s bulk shipping unit. Group-wide revenue increased 34.2 percent to $3.23 billion.

Cosco had a 16.1 percent year-to-year increase in container volume, to 1.656 million 20-foot equivalent units. Container shipping revenue jumped 84.7 percent to $1.73 billion. During the first three quarters of the year, container volume increased 21.8 percent and revenue soared 89.6 percent from 2009’s depressed levels.

Cosco is No. 7 on the JOC list of Top 15 Container Fleet Operators.

The company’s dry bulk shipping volume fell 6 percent during the quarter as China’s iron ore shipments softened, but bulk volume for the year’s first nine months was up 3.1 percent.

Cosco’s terminal unit reported a 22.9 percent increase in container volume, to 13.32 million tons. For the first three quarters, container volume rose 20.2 percent.

-- Contact Joseph Bonney at jbonney@joc.com.