PROFIT REBOUNDS AT EVERGREEN, WAN HAI IN 1ST QUARTER

PROFIT REBOUNDS AT EVERGREEN, WAN HAI IN 1ST QUARTER    The Taiwanese shipping lines Evergreen Marine Corp. and Wan Hai Lines Ltd. increased their profits and revenues in the first quarter of this year.
   On a non-consolidated basis, Evergreen Marine Corp. earned a net income of NT$270 million ($8 million) in the first quarter, a reversal from the NT$98 net loss suffered in the first quarter of 2002.
   However, the company’s operating income decreased by 15 percent over the same period, to NT$104 million ($3 million), from NT$123 million. The improvement in net profit came from non-operating profits, particularly investment income.
   Evergreen Marine’s non-consolidated revenue soared by 134 percent, to NT$7.9 billion ($226 million) in the first quarter, from NT$3.4 billion in the same quarter of 2002.
   Evergreen Marine is just one of the operating companies of the Evergreen group. Most affiliates of the Taiwanese group do not publish their financial results.
   For the first quarter, stock market-listed Wan Hai improved its net income by 60 percent, to NT$788 million ($23 million), from NT$494 million a year ago.
   Nevertheless, operating income was down by 7 percent, to NT$238 million
($7 million), from NT$256 million a year before. Non-operating profit also improved at Wan Hai, to NT$770 million ($22 million), from NT$449 million, thanks to higher investment income.
   Wan Hai’s first-quarter revenue was up 20 percent, to NT$8.6 billion ($247 million), from NT$7.1 billion in the first quarter of 2002.
   Evergreen Marine Corp. also confirmed a sharp fall in its results for 2002, in common with most container shipping lines.
   On a consolidated basis, Evergreen Marine’s net income fell by 36 percent last year, to NT$1.1 billion ($31 million), from NT$1.7 billion in 2001.
   Its operating income dropped by 29 percent, to NT$2.3 billion ($65 million), from NT$3.2 billion in 2001.
   The company’s consolidated revenues increased by 23 percent in 2002, to NT$68.5 billion ($2 billion), from NT$55.6 billion in the previous year.