COSCO Pacific boosts profits 30.4% in 2015

The container manufacturer and terminal operator’s revenues, on the other hand, fell 8.3 percent year-over-year in 2015 to $798.2 million.    COSCO Pacific Limited reported profits attributable to equity holders of the company of $381.6 million in 2015, a 30.4 percent increase from 2014.
   Revenues, on the other hand, declined 8.3 percent year-over-year to $798.2 million, according to the Hong Kong-based container manufacturer and terminal operator’s yearly financial report.
   COSCO Pacific’s terminals business posted profits of $233.7 million, a 5.7 percent increase from 2014, primarily driven by the turnaround at the Xiamen Ocean Gate Terminal, which experienced volume growth and higher average revenues per TEU.
   “In addition, those terminals that account for relatively high proportions of the Group’s terminals business profit had stable growth in both throughput and profit,” COSCO Pacific said.
   Container throughput for the terminals business rose 2 percent year-over-year in 2015 to 68.7 million TEUs. However, the slowdown in global economic growth and negative growth of imports and exports in China hindered the segment’s profits and volumes.
   Revenues for the terminals business totaled $486.8 million, a 5.8 percent decline from 2014, primarily due to the depreciation of the Euro and Renminbi against the U.S. dollar.
   The container leasing, management and sale business had profits of $82.8 million in 2015 on revenues of $315.7 million, year-over-year decreases of 13.5 percent and 11.6 percent, respectively.
   “During the year, the number of the Group’s leased containers increased, while overall lease rate declined year-on-year, resulting in a slight decline in revenue from the container leasing business,” COSCO Pacific said. “In addition, the number of disposed returned containers declined, while there was continued pressure on resale prices.”
   Looking ahead into 2016, COSCO Pacific’s terminals handled 10.9 million TEUs during the first two months of the year, a 2 percent decline from the corresponding period in 2015.