Audit Report: Cosco Cooked Its Books

China’s shipping conglomerate Cosco Group has ended up on the list of companies found to have falsified revenue and profits, according to the country’s National Audit Office.

Cosco, together with 13 other state-run companies, falsified a total of USD 4.8 bln in revenue and USD 3.1 bln in profits, the Audit office said in a report for 2014 released on Sunday, June 28th.

The falsifications in particular relate to the period from 2008 to 2013 when Cosco failed to report USD 48 mln in revenue and a total net profit of around USD 20.7 mln.

What is more, the Audit Office found that some of Cosco’s subsidiaries, including Cosco Dalian Shipyard, were involved in illegal activities and financial irregularities during the said period.

The auditor said that these cases will be investigated by the relevant authorities.

The report also cites shady activities with respect to state lenders which have been found to have issued loans to unqualified borrowers.

The firms that have been caught in malpractices and revenue falsifications include State Grid Corp, China Southern Power Grid Co, Bank of Communications and China Development Bank.

World Maritime News Staff