KUALA LUMPUR: Cosco Shipping Holdings has posted a profit for the first quarter, reversing from a loss-making position in the year-ago period, thanks to an improved container shipping market and income from investment.
Net profit for the group was recorded at RMB270.14m ($39.17m) as against the loss of RMB4.46bn in the same period of 2016.
The profit was aided by a first quarter investment income of RMB274m compared to the investment loss of RMB2.11bn for the previous year’s period.
The group realised first quarter revenue of RMB20.1bn, a jump of 48.1% compared to the previous corresponding period due mainly to higher container shipping volume.
In the first three months, Cosco Shipping Holdings’ container shipping business reached 4.65m teu, up 53.9% year-on-year. As at 31 March 2017, the group operated a fleet of 327 containerships with a total capacity of around 1.7m teu. The group has 33 orders for container vessels representing a total capacity of 542,776 teu.
For the terminal business, the total throughput during the first quarter registered 23.91m teu, an increase of 7.5% year-on-year.
