COSCO Pacific increases profits 2.3%

The container manufacturer and terminal operator increased profits thanks mainly to 13.6% revenue growth in its terminal business, according to the company’s 2014 financial results.    COSCO Pacific Limited, a subsidiary of the COSCO Group, increased net profits attributable to equity holders of the company by 2.3 percent to $292.76 million in 2014. According to the Hong Kong-based container manufacturer and terminal operator’s yearly financial report, group revenues were up 8.9 percent to $870.09 million compared to 2013.
   Year-over-year profits from COSCO Pacific’s terminal operations increased18.3 percent to $220.98 million in 2014. The company attributed the growth primarily to strong performance from Container Terminal S.A. in Piraeus, Greece, and Guangzhou South China Oceangate Container Terminal Company Limited and Xiamen Ocean Gate Container Terminal Co., Ltd. in China.
   The company increased container throughput at its terminals 9.9 percent to 67.33 million TEUs and revenues for terminal businesses were up 13.6 percent to $516.99 million.
   Profits for the company’s container leasing, management and sale businesses fell 23.6 percent to $95.76 million despite a 2.7 percent increase in revenues to $357.07 million for the year.
   COSCO Pacific said that although demand for leasing increased, rates remained low, resulting in a lower gross profit for its container leasing unit.
   According to marine consultant Drewry’s “Global Container Terminal Operators Annual Review and Forecast” published in September 2014, the total container throughput of COSCO Pacific’s terminals accounted for approximately 9.3 percent of the world total, up 0.3 percentage points from 2013.