Cosco Pacific Profits up 12%

 

However the revenue of the port and box leasing unit of Chinese state conglomerate Cosco Group dropped 8.6% to $402.4m from $440.2m previously.

 

The company said in an announcement that profit from the terminals business rose by 11% to $121.2m from $109.1m in the previous corresponding period. 

 

As Cosco Group's port operator, Cosco Pacific operates terminals and Piraeus, Greece and Kwai Tsing in Hong Kong as well as many holdings in mainland China.

 

Terminal throughput increased 4.2 percent to 33.8 million TEUs, according to the company's most recent financial statements.

 

Equity throughput rose slightly by 1.9% to 9.5m teu from 9.3m teu previously. Total throughput meanwhile rose by 4% to 33.8m teu.

 

Profits from container leasing, management and sale businesses reached $49.7 million, a year-over-year decrease of 6.8 percent. 

 

The port terminal operator posted revenues of $402.4 million for the first-half of 2015, down 8.6 percent from the same period in 2014. 

 

Revenues from its terminals business stood at $245.1 million, while revenues from the container leasing, management and sale businesses stood at $159.7 million, down 5 percent and 13.3 percent, respectively.

 

On future prospects, Cosco Pacific said: "Looking ahead to the second half of the year, in light of the volatile global economic conditions, stagnant economic recovery in the US and Europe, as well as the downward pressure on China’s economic growth, fierce competition is expected to continue within the sector. Such challenging operational environment is bound to have some impact on the group’s terminals and container leasing businesses, and the growth in container throughput of the group’s terminals in 2015 may turn out to be slower than expected."

 

Cosco Pacific's container fleet increased two per cent to two million TEU as of June 30. The average age of containers 6.8 years.