Press Release
(For immediate release)

 

 

 

Steady progress and pending new breakthroughs

COSCO SHIPPING Holdings delivered the record first-half results

(30 August 2022, Shanghai)–COSCO SHIPPING Holdings Co., Ltd. (“COSCO SHIPPING Holdings” or “the Company”) (SSE: 601919; HKEx: 1919), the container shipping-based global digital supply chain operation and investment platform, announced today its interim results for the six months ended 30 June 2022 (the “Reporting Period”).

• The Company’s earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) was RMB95.31 billion, representing an increase of 92.20% year-on-year and outperforming the industry.
• Total profit before tax was RMB93.55 billion, representing an increase of 95.83% year-on-year; profit attributable to equity holders was RMB64.72 billion, representing an increase of 74.46% year-on-year and hitting record first-half level.
• Earnings per ordinary share were RMB4.04.
• As at the end of 30 June 2022, asset-liability ratio of the Company was 51.48%, representing a decrease of 5.28 percentage points compared with the end of last year on its continuing efforts to optimize the financial structure.
• In order to better repay the Company’s shareholders and improve their investment returns, the Company will pay an interim dividend of RMB2.01 per share (tax inclusive) in cash. The total cash dividend payment is RMB32.34 billion, representing about 50% of the net profit attributable to the owners of the parent company in the first half of 2022. (As at 31 July 2022, the total number of issued Shares of the Company was 16.09 billion Shares.)
• In order to improve the sustainable, stable and scientific dividend return planning and mechanism for investors, ensure the continuity and stability of the Company’s profit distribution policy, and taken into account the overall interests of all shareholders, the long-term interests of the Company and its sustainable development, in the next three years (2022-2024), the Company will pay out 30%-50% of the net profit attributable to the owners of the parent company (consolidated net profit attributable to parent company) in each profitable fiscal year as cash dividends.

In the first half of 2022, under the leadership of the Company’s board of directors and with the joint efforts of the management and all employees onshore and onboard, COSCO SHIPPING Holdings overcame the adverse effects of geopolitical conflicts, global economic downturn and multiple COVID-19 outbreaks on the fleet operation, gave full play to the advantages of industrial chain operation and the synergy of dual brands, continued to optimize the route structure and global network layout, and created a stable and reliable global container transport service supply chain. At the same time, the Company quickly adapted to market changes, launched a market-oriented and customer-driven supply chain service mode, constantly enhanced the layout, operation and delivery capacity of the global and digital supply chain, initially realized the steady improvement in efficiency driven by multiple growth engines, promoted the upgrading of business model with science and technology, ensured the stable operation of business with risk control, and improved the sustainable development ability of the enterprise. During the Reporting Period, the Company achieved the best performance in the same period in history, and the main business indicators achieved steady growth.

 

Optimized global network and emerging markets with great development potential

In the first half of 2022, the Company reinforced its development in the traditional markets, such as Trans-Pacific routes and Asia-Europe routes. The dual brands under it teamed up with the OCEAN Alliance to launch the DAY6 Product, upgraded 8 loops and launched 3 new loops. Their fleets comprised 352 ships with total capacity of 4.43 million TEUs, thereby creating a global shipping network for customers with more choices, wider coverage, more stable services and more flexibility. In particular for emerging markets, the Company paid close attention to the implementation of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) agreement and the establishment and improvement of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and other regional economic and trade systems. It upgraded container services of various shipping routes, including those to the Middle East, South Asia and the refrigerated container service of Peru, ensuring their access to global trade. Going forward, underpinned by consolidated traditional markets, the Company’s dual brands will continue to expand into emerging markets, regional markets and non-China markets.

 

Prominent value of end-to-end transportation and layout for new development of supply chain

In the face of severe delays in the global supply chain, the Company continuously innovated integrated land-sea operation model and provided customers with customized “end-to-end” transportation services and products. In the first half of 2022, the Company addressed the bottleneck of domestic highway transportation by utilizing its resources strengthens in water and railway transportation to provide customers with the options of changing road transportation to water or railways transportation, thus ensuring our services to customers uninterrupted and to be delivered smoothly with improved efficiency. For overseas markets, the expansion of cargo sources and the construction of logistics channels in Europe continued to advance, the overseas warehousing and distribution business in Greece was carried out smoothly, and the competitiveness and coverage of China-Europe Sea-rail Express products were significantly improved. From January to June 2022, the cargo volume of China-Europe Sea-rail Express increased by 38.3% as compared to the same period of last year , laying a solid foundation for a new round of high-quality development of the global supply chain.

 

Digital transformation in full swing, and innovation-based service efficiency enhancement

During the Reporting Period, the Company further accelerated the digitization process. In respect of the application of blockchain technology, the Company took the lead to establish Global Shipping Business Network (GSBN), an industrial blockchain alliance, and launched two products: paperless cargo release and blockchain bill of lading to greatly improve logistics efficiency. In the first half of 2022, after the successful launch of paperless cargo release product in China and Southeast Asia, it completed the trial run in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, further simplifying the trade process, better connecting with partners and enhancing customer experience. Commercial promotion of the blockchain bill of lading was carried out and it was officially recognized by the International Group of P&I Clubs in June. Its application scenarios will be extended to dangerous goods certificate, packing list and commercial invoice. In respect of IoT business, the extensive application of the Company’s IoT intelligent fridge technology commenced. The geographical location and transportation trajectory of refrigerated containers can be tracked real-time with information such as the expected arrival gate of the cargo and the temperature control status of the whole process. This provides effective support for refrigerated chains customers to ensure quality of goods, improve supply chain efficiency and reduce the inventory cost. In the first half of 2022, the transaction volume of the Company’s e-commerce platform (Syncon Hub) recorded a growth of 48% year-on-year. The full process and contactless services gain the trust of more and more customers. The digital development of the Company has gathered momentum.

 

Active promotion of green and sustainable development and fulfillment of corporate social responsibility

In recent years, going green and low-carbon has become the common goal of global economic and social development. At present, the Company is vigorously promoting the use of shore power system during ship berthing and at berth through the innovation of new energy, low-carbon and emission reduction technology to accelerate the green and low-carbon development of the fleets and ports. The Company independently developed the energy efficiency management system platform, implemented the ship energy efficiency management plan (SEEMP), and obtained the "energy management system certification (EMSC)" issued by DNV. The Company has made substantial progress in safe, economical and reliable clean energy solutions. The Company will strive to make new progress on researching green and low carbon marine fuel, green and low-carbon vessels, and making efforts on green transformation of existing fleet in the next step. The Company will strive to make new progress in the development of green and low-carbon vessels, securing green and low carbon marine fuel supply, and making efforts on low-carbon transformation of existing fleet in the next step.

 

Looking ahead to the second half of 2022, the external environment will become more complicated and severe. Geopolitics and high inflation will bring uncertainty to global economic development and commodity trade. The impacts of inflation on consumer demand and consumer behavior have to be closely monitored. However, it is expected that the growth rate of global container transport demand will remain at a relatively stable level. In terms of the supply of shipping capacity, with the gradual improvement of the operating efficiency of the container fleet, the global effective supply of shipping capacity will increase. Given the changes in the delivery of new vessels in the second half of the year, the industry supply will face a new situation and the global supply chain will be further stabilized. Although the future macro environment is full of challenges and uncertainties, the long-term favorable fundamentals of the China’s economy will remain unchanged. Recently, China has issued a series of macro policies to stabilize foreign trade and foreign investment, which further highlight the development direction of “seeking progress while maintaining stability”, and bring new opportunities for the development of international container shipping industry.

 

The Company has optimized its organizational structure recently to lay a solid foundation for further strengthening its ability in supply chain expansion and repair, the delivery of customers services and value creation. As the flagship to realize the vision of COSCO SHIPPING Group of “building a world-leading business entity that provides integrated logistics and supply chain services”, the Company will continuously strive to build a global digital supply chain operation and investment platform with a primary focus on container shipping, providing customers with higher quality supply chain solutions through “container shipping + ports + related logistics services”. The Company will build and improve the global digital container supply chain service systems for customers through specific initiatives such as maintaining and stabilizing supply chain, deepening cooperation with customers, improving the global layout, strengthening digital and intelligent empowerment, promoting low-carbon transformation and implementing cost control. The Company will be a vital link to world trade, safeguard the stability of the global supply chain, provide better services for customers and create greater value for shareholders.

 

 

 

About COSCO SHIPPING Holdings Co., Ltd.

COSCO SHIPPING Holdings Co., Ltd. (“COSCO SHIPPING Holdings”, Stock Code: 601919.SH; 01919.HK) is the listed company controlled by China COSCO SHIPPING Corporation Limited. The Company was listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in June 2005 and the Shanghai Stock Exchange in June 2007.

The Company focuses on container shipping and terminal operations. As at 30 June 2022, the Company operates a total fleet capacity of 512 ships and 2.92 million TEUs through its wholly-owned subsidiary COSCO SHIPPING Lines and its holding subsidiary Oriental Overseas International, COSCO SHIPPING Ports, another subsidiary of the Company, operates a total of 220 container berths in 37 ports worldwide, with designed processing capacity of 141 million TEUs annually. COSCO SHIPPING Holdings is committed to become a top-tier integrated container shipping service provider with its continuing efforts to build up a global network, provide customers with comprehensive solutions and create greater returns for shareholders.

 

 

Media Enquiries

 

COSCO SHIPPING Holdings Company Limited

Xu Junjie / Shi Peiwen

Tel: (86) 021-3512 4888* 1766/ (86) 185 1617 9776

Email: investor@coscoshipping.com

 

PRChina Limited

Jack Liu / Joanne Liu

Tel: (852) 2522 1838/ (852) 2522 1368

Email: zyliu@prchina.com.hk/ jjyliu@prchina.com.hk