Sinotrans posts first half profit of US$52 million, up 22.8pc

SINOTRANS Limited has posted its unaudited interim results for 2007 which show that profit attributable to shareholders amounted to CNY394.6 million (US$52.3 million), up 22.8 per cent from the CNY321.3 million earned in the first half of 2006.

Operating profit came to CNY637.9 million, on the back of total revenues of CNY17.7 billion, up from CNY14.8 billion the previous year.

During the reporting period, the freight forwarding business saw container cargo volumes rise 26.5 per cent to 3.1 million TEU. Airfreight forwarding volumes dropped 4.7 per cent year on year to 181.2 million kilogrammes. This sector's operating profit grew 27.2 per cent to CNY263.7 million.

The group's warehousing facilities stored 3.7 million TEU in the first half of the year, up from 2.9 million TEU for the same period a year earlier.

The Shipping Agency recorded 20.4 per cent growth in net registered vessel tonnage to 230 million NRT. Operating profit increased by 18.3 per cent to CNY155.2 million.

For its terminal and storage division, throughput rose 27.3 per cent to 1,249,000 tonnes, generating an operating profit of CNY157.1 million, up 37.8 per cent year on year.

In spite of the strong performance, its marine transport division suffered a loss of CNY77.4 million, down 44 per cent over the first half of last year. This happened after the company integrated and re-allocated shipping lines, adjusted capacity scale to reduce cost and cut total fuel and rental costs greatly, a company said.

Looking ahead, Sinotrans aims to consolidate resources, focus on coastal business and in the Yangtze River Delta, overhaul ocean freight forwarding, develop its overseas service network, launch new services and products to add value to existing conventional businesses, further reduce loss in marine transport, strengthen chemical products logistics business, and seek investment opportunities in mergers and acquisitions in the logistics sector.