China Shipping Container Lines joins trend of liner profit gains

China Shipping Container Lines joins trend of liner profit gains

   China Shipping Container Lines is the latest container carrier to report a triple-digit rise in net earnings for the half of the year, as its net income climbed 290 percent in the latest six-month period to RMB1.5 billion ($184 million) from RMB391 million in the same period of 2003.

   Despite increases in costs, the Chinese carrier boosted its operating income 264 percent year-on-year to RMB2.2 billion ($266 million) from RMB605 million. Operating margin as a percentage of revenue amounted to 22 percent in the first half of this year — a very high ratio by industry standards — compared to 9 percent in the year-earlier period.

   China Shipping Container Lines’ revenue jumped 55 percent to RMB9.9 billion ($1.2 billion), due partly to a 34-percent rise in container volume carried to 1.7 million TEUs, and a 17-percent increase in average revenue per TEU on international routes. China Shipping, now listed on the Hong Kong stock exchange, also reported a 13-percent increase in average revenue per TEU on Chinese domestic routes.