COSCO Pacific profit up 47%

COSCO Pacific profit up 47% COSCO Pacific Ltd.’s net profit jumped 47 percent in 2007 to $427.8 million, which includes a one-off gain of $90.7 million from the disposal of its entire 20 percent shareholding interest in Chong Hing Bank Ltd, to sister company COSCO (Hong Kong) Group Ltd.
   The company’s revenue for the year was flat at $298.9 million with the container terminal business propping up a poor performance by the container leasing division.
   Profit from container terminal operations increased 27.5 percent to $128.3 million on the back of a 21.5 percent rise in throughput to 39.8 million TEUs, ranking COSCO Pacific as the world’s fifth-largest box terminal operator.
   “Focusing on ports and terminals as the principal earnings driver and the largest profit center of COSCO Pacific, we are dedicated to strengthening our terminal portfolio so as to build a stronger and a larger platform for the business,” the company said in a statement.
   COSCO Pacific's container leasing, management and sale businesses are operated and managed by Florens Container Holdings Ltd., which saw its net profit slide 36 percent 118 million. As at Dec, 31, the group owned and managed the container fleet of 1.52 million TEUs, a year on year increase of 21.5 percent, making Florens the world's second-largest container leasing operator with about 13.2 percent of the global market share. The average utilization rate over the year was 94.5 percent, compared to 96.2 percent in 2006.