China Merchants Posts Double-Digit Profit Jump

China Merchants Holdings (International) Company Limited, the country’s largest port operator, reported HKD 2.78 billion (USD 359m) net profit for the period ended June 30, 2015, an increase of 29.4% over the same period last year, due to increased container throughput in China, and a double-digit rise in number of containers handled at the company’s overseas terminals.

For the period under review, revenue generated from the company’s core ports operation amounted to HKD 10.75 billion, up 4.7% year-on-year.

Container throughput handled by the company’s ports during the first half of the year amounted to 41.35 million TEUs, up 5.3% year-on-year, amongst which the ports in Mainland China delivered container throughput of 30.36 million TEUs, or an increase of 5.0% year-on-year.

However, the operations in Hong Kong and Taiwan delivered an aggregate container throughput of 3.03 million TEUs, a decline of 18.7% over the same period last year.

Container throughput handled by the company’s overseas projects grew by 20.4% year-on-year to 7.95 million TEUs, as rapid business growth was seen at Colombo International Container Terminals Limited in Sri Lanka.

Bulk cargo volume handled by the company’s ports decreased by 3.9% year-on-year to 174 million tonnes, within which bulk cargo handled by the ports in Mainland China was 172 million tonnes, a decrease of 4.2% year-on-year. On the overseas front, Port de Djibouti S.A. delivered a bulk cargo volume of 2.41 million tonnes, or an increase of 31.8% as compared to the same period last year.

Looking ahead, the company expects the formation of mega shipping alliances to accelerate the consolidation of resources and intensify the inter-alliance competition, which in turn will affect the market order in the shipping space, and bring about both new challenges and opportunities to the port industry.

However, the company sees ample opportunities and room for further development that are derived from a series of national strategies and reforms launched by the Chinese government, such as the initiation of “One Belt, One Road” strategy, the establishment of “Free Trade Zones” and the introduction of State-Owned Enterprises Reforms.

Although the traditional peak season in the second half of this year is expected to support China’s export trade, China’s port industry would continue to be hampered as growth continued to slow owing to challenging external and domestic economic conditions.

However, with steady expansion in its overseas projects, the performance of the company’s port operations seen in the first half is expected to be sustained throughout the rest of the year.