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SHANGHAI—Cosco Shipping Co., a unit of China’s biggest
shipping company, had a 48- percent gain in
fourth-quarter profit as the company charged more for
carrying iron ore, coal and other dry bulk goods.
Net
income rose to 180 million yuan ($23.2 million) in the
three months ending December from 122 million yuan a
year earlier. The figures were derived by subtracting
results for the first three-quarters from preliminary
full-year numbers from the Guangzhou-based company.
Sales increased 21 percent to 1.09 billion yuan.
Cosco
has gained as rates for moving dry bulks rebound. The
Baltic Dry Index, which measures the cost of chartering
different-size vessels, increased 11 percent in the
fourth quarter, according to the Baltic Exchange in
London.
“Cosco’s
profit has been improving in the past quarters and may
continue to expand this year,’’ said Sun Liping, an
analyst at TX Investment Consulting Co., in Beijing. Sun
had the closest estimate to Cosco’s preliminary earnings
announced Tuesday.
Cosco
Shipping’s shares rose 4.2 percent to 16.51 yuan at 1:18
p.m. in Shanghai, after surging as much as 10 percent.
Cosco
Shipping’s full-year net income fell to 615.5 million
yuan, or 0.94 yuan per share, compared with 685 million
yuan, or 1.05 yuan per share, a year earlier, the
company said in a statement to the Shanghai Stock
Exchange Tuesday. This compares with a net profit
forecast of 648.5 million yuan, according to the average
of six estimates compiled by Bloomberg.
Sales
rose 2.9 percent to 3.85 billion yuan, Cosco said.
“The
company’s full-year profit fall follows the downward
trend in the industry,’’ said Li Lei, an analyst of
China Securities Co. in Beijing. “Most shipping lines in
China, especially those handling oil and cargo, may
report declines in profit for 2006 for high fuel
costs.’’
The
average price of 380 Centistoke bunker fuel, used by
ships, rose 19 percent to $314.88 a metric ton in 2006,
compared with a year earlier, according to Bloomberg
data.
Li
forecast that Cosco Shipping’s net income may rise about
15 percent this year, with earnings per share of 1.1
yuan.
TX
Investment’s Sun forecasts Cosco’s dry fixture shipping
rates to increase 10 percent in 2007.
The
company is scheduled to announce its full-year financial
results on March 20. Chinese companies sometimes release
preliminary figures early.
Neptune
Orient Lines Ltd., which operates
Asia’s fourth-largest container line, will announce earnings on
February 27. (Bloomberg) |
