OOCL acquisition boosts COSCO

   COSCO Shipping Holdings reported an increase in first-quarter revenue and profit, reflecting its acquisition last year of a majority stake in Orient Overseas (International) Ltd., the parent company of Orient Overseas Container Line, last July.
   COSCO said it had net profit of 687 million Chinese yuan renminbi in the first quarter of 2019 compared with 181 million RMB in the first quarter of 2018.
   During the first quarter of 2019, revenue totaled 35.1 billion RMB ($5.2 billion) compared to 21.9 billion RMB in the same 2018 period, nearly a 60 percent increase.
   The company benefited from increased volumes and revenue in its liner business. It also saw an increase in containers handled at its container terminals.
   In the first quarter of 2019, COSCO moved 5,881,731 TEUs,  an increase of 42.6 percent from the first quarter of 2018. That big increase reflects the addition of 1,605,564 TEUs from OOCL.
   COSCO also said revenue from its shipping routes amounted  to 31.1 billion RMB or about $4.6 billion.
   At the end of March, the fleet operated by COSCO included 478 container vessels, with a total shipping capacity of 2,775,313 TEUs. COSCO also had nine container vessels on order, with aggregate capacity of 159,421 TEUs.
   COSCO Shipping Holdings said its terminals handled 30.6 million TEUs at its terminals in the first quarter of 2019 (about 6.67 million TEUs from terminals it controlled and 23.95 million TEUs in terminals in which it is an investor.)