Evergreen Marine Corp., Asia's largest container line, boosted first-quarter profit 4.9 percent as higher fuel costs eroded gains from rising cargo rates.
Net income rose to NT$367 million ($12 million), or NT$0.12 a share, from NT$350 million, or NT$0.11 a year earlier, the Taipei-based company said in a Taiwan Stock Exchange filing today.
Marine fuel prices have jumped about 80 percent since the start of last year, raising costs for Evergreen Marine, A.P. Moeller-Maersk A/S and other shipping lines. That has crimped the benefits of higher rates on European routes caused by surging demand for Asian-made toys, furniture and other items.
Profit was probably mostly eroded by fuel costs,'' said Bruce Tsao, an analyst at Capital Securities Corp. Demand in the U.S. and Europe may also have been weaker than expected.'' He doesn't have a rating for the stock.
The price of 380 Centistoke Bunker Fuel, used by ships, hit a record close of $544.50 a ton in Singapore on April 28. It fell 1.3 percent yesterday.
The external environment has worsened,'' Daphne Tsai, an Evergreen Marine public relations manager, said by phone from Taipei today. The U.S. subprime loan losses have also damped demand.''
Rates for shipping a container to the U.S. from Asia rose 2.2 percent in the fourth quarter of last year, according to Containerisation International. On European lanes, rates jumped 33 percent from a year earlier to $2,054 per 20-foot standard container. That's the highest since the magazine started tracking rates in the last quarter of 1993.
Evergreen Marine's first-quarter sales fell 15 percent from a year earlier to NT$6.11 billion, based on monthly stock exchange filings. Revenue from affiliates and subsidiaries is counted separately. The group operates about 170 vessels with a combined capacity of 600,000 standard 20-foot boxes.
The shipping line rose 1.6 percent to NT$29.05 at the close of trading on the Taiwan Stock Exchange, before the announcement. The stock has dropped 1.9 percent this year, compared with a 4.9 percent gain for the benchmark Taiex index.
Evergreen Marine's profit last year surged 25-fold to NT$10.4 billion from NT$412 million a year earlier, it said today in a separate stock exchange filing.
Maersk, owner of the world's largest container line, expects 2008 profit to rise as much as 17 percent, it said last month.
Net income rose to NT$367 million ($12 million), or NT$0.12 a share, from NT$350 million, or NT$0.11 a year earlier, the Taipei-based company said in a Taiwan Stock Exchange filing today.
Marine fuel prices have jumped about 80 percent since the start of last year, raising costs for Evergreen Marine, A.P. Moeller-Maersk A/S and other shipping lines. That has crimped the benefits of higher rates on European routes caused by surging demand for Asian-made toys, furniture and other items.
Profit was probably mostly eroded by fuel costs,'' said Bruce Tsao, an analyst at Capital Securities Corp. Demand in the U.S. and Europe may also have been weaker than expected.'' He doesn't have a rating for the stock.
The price of 380 Centistoke Bunker Fuel, used by ships, hit a record close of $544.50 a ton in Singapore on April 28. It fell 1.3 percent yesterday.
The external environment has worsened,'' Daphne Tsai, an Evergreen Marine public relations manager, said by phone from Taipei today. The U.S. subprime loan losses have also damped demand.''
Rates for shipping a container to the U.S. from Asia rose 2.2 percent in the fourth quarter of last year, according to Containerisation International. On European lanes, rates jumped 33 percent from a year earlier to $2,054 per 20-foot standard container. That's the highest since the magazine started tracking rates in the last quarter of 1993.
Evergreen Marine's first-quarter sales fell 15 percent from a year earlier to NT$6.11 billion, based on monthly stock exchange filings. Revenue from affiliates and subsidiaries is counted separately. The group operates about 170 vessels with a combined capacity of 600,000 standard 20-foot boxes.
The shipping line rose 1.6 percent to NT$29.05 at the close of trading on the Taiwan Stock Exchange, before the announcement. The stock has dropped 1.9 percent this year, compared with a 4.9 percent gain for the benchmark Taiex index.
Evergreen Marine's profit last year surged 25-fold to NT$10.4 billion from NT$412 million a year earlier, it said today in a separate stock exchange filing.
Maersk, owner of the world's largest container line, expects 2008 profit to rise as much as 17 percent, it said last month.