BEIJING - China COSCO Holding Co, Asia's largest shipping company by market value, said Wednesday that its net profits rose 189.7 percent year-on-year in 2010, partly due to the continued recovery of the global economy and trade.
Net profits climbed to 6.76 billion yuan ($1.02 billion) and earnings per share stood at 0.66 yuan, the country's top shipping conglomerate said in a statement filed at the Shanghai Stock Exchange.
A rebound in commodity shipments and freight rates last year attributed to the company's increased earnings, the statement noted.
The company owned 150 container vessels at the end of December, with container volumes up to 614,092 TEU (twenty-foot equivalent unit), an increase of 9.5 percent year-on-year.
Traffic for the company's dry-bulk fleet also rose, reporting a 3.15 percent increase in container volumes to 280 million tons.
The company was cautiously optimistic about the container shipping market as its logistics branch is expected to maintain upward momentum this year.
However, it also warned that overcapacity may pose challenges to the dry cargo shipping market.
The company, a subsidiary of China Ocean Shipping (Group) Co, fell 0.989 percent to HK$8.01 ($1.01) on Wednesday.
