China's largest container shipping company, China COSCO Holdings Company Limited, reported 31 percent increase in net profits last year.

According to the Shanghai Securities News, China COSCO's turnover increased 21.7 percent to 39.17 billion yuan (US$4.89 billion) from 32,19 billion yuan in 2004. Net profit attributable to shareholders rose to 5.45 billion yuan, an increase of 31.1 percent from 4,158 billion yuan in 2004.

China COSCO said on its web site that earnings per share (EPS) in 2005 were 1.06171 yuan, a 4.7 percent increase over 2004 EPS of 1.01414 yuan. The Board recommended a final dividend of 0.13 yuan per share. Based on the basic earnings per share of the second half of 2005, the payout ratio stood at 29.8 percent.

A leading global provider of integrated container shipping services, China COSCO reported a growth of 35 percent in its container shipping business, with the interrelated profits standing at 4.71 billion yuan, about 86 percent of its total profits.

Xu Lirong, deputy general manager of China COSCO, said the company plans to allocate an additional 23 percent capital to explore newly-rising shipping markets such as India and Caribbean, to meet the soaring shipping demand in Asia.

(Xinhua News Agency April 14, 2006)