COSCO Pacific reports higher profits for first half

COSCO Pacific reports higher profits for first half    COSCO Pacific Ltd., which is involved in both the marine terminal and container leasing businesses, reported higher profit in the six months ended June 30.
   Profit for the first six months of 2006 was $151 million versus $138 million in the same period the prior year.
   The company's revenue fell 12.9 percent $147 million in the first six months of 2006, from $169 million in the same 2006 period.
   Container terminal throughput rose 23 percent to 18.4 million TEUs in the six-month period. The company has investments in 24 terminal joint ventures, almost all of which are in China. The ventures have 119 berths up from 104 a year ago — 113 are container berths, two automobile berths and four multipurpose berths.
   Florens Container Holdings, a subsidiary, owned and managed a fleet of 1.4 million TEUs on June 30, an increase of nearly 26 percent.
Logistics profit in the first half was $11 million, up 19 percent.