CMPort grows profit on higher volumes in 2016

Port terminal operator China Merchants Port Holdings Co. Ltd. saw 2016 earnings jump 14.3 percent to $5.49 billion Hong Kong (U.S. $706.5 million) compared with the previous year as container throughput grew 14.5 percent to 95.8 million TEUs.    China Merchants Port Holdings Co. Ltd. (CMPort) saw profits attributable to equity shareholders jump 14.3 percent to $5.49 billion Hong Kong (U.S. $706.5 million) compared with the previous year, according to the company’s most recent financial statements.
   The port terminal operator reported basic earnings per share (EPS) of HK $1.76, up 13.2 percent from HK $1.55 per share in 2015, but recurrent profits (not including gains on asset disposals and other one-time effects) grew just 2.7 percent year-over-year to HK $4.58 billion.
   Container throughput at the firm’s terminals grew 14.5 percent year-over-year to 95.8 million TEUs in 2016, while bulk cargo volumes soared 30.2 percent to 460 million metric tons.
   Profit derived from CMPort’s core ports operation stood at HK $5.56 billion, up 24.6 percent from the previous year, on revenues that grew 14 percent to HK $24.51 billion.
   The company attributed the strong results primarily to adherence to its own strategic guidance, focusing on the development of domestic markets, overseas expansion and innovation, and added how it would continue to grow profits in the coming year despite a slowdown in global trade growth.
   “Against the backdrop of a feeble economic recovery and the restorative growth of world trade, the global port industry is again anticipating a picture of slow growth in 2017,” CMPorts said. “Competition among different alliances will become even more intense. The port industry is presented with further challenges and opportunities, with a concentrated market layout that is dominated by the three large shipping alliances to be formed by 2017, namely 2M, OCEAN and THE Alliance, along with the rearrangement of trade routes.
   “The supply glut in the shipping industry will persist and the transition from competition to consolidation will be the main development trend for domestic ports,” it added. “It is expected that the group’s ports operation will still maintain a relatively positive growth, mainly driven by the rapid growth of new projects and overseas projects in year 2017.”
   Group Chairman Li Xiaopeng said CMPort will continue to look for acquisition and consolidation opportunities and increase terminal handling capacity, projecting throughput at company’s terminals to exceed 100 million TEUs in 2017.