China COSCO to Post Profits for Q1
Boosted by an improving market and cost savings from a recent merger, China’s COSCO Shipping Holdings expected to report a profit in the first-quarter, says a report by Reuters.
In a stock market statement the world's fourth-largest container shipping line said that it expects to post a net profit of 260 million yuan ($37.7 million) for the three months to end-March 2017.
Although year-on-year comparisons are difficult as COSCO became a new company last year through the merger of two major domestic shipping firms, the result would be up from a loss of 4.48 billion yuan during the first quarter of 2016.
COSCO said it shipped 54 percent more cargo during the quarter than a year ago. The China Containerized Freight Index, which tracks freight rates from China to overseas ports, had risen 11.7 percent on a year ago, indicating overall sector recovery, it said.