China International Marine Containers (Group) Co (CIMC), the world's largest shipping container maker, has suffered a fourth-quarter loss of CNY295 million (US$43 million) on the back of the global economic slowdown, which has hit world trade hard.
The loss compared with a net profit of CNY1.24 billion that CIMC recorded in the same quarter of 2007, as the company was forced to stop producing dry-cargo containers in the fourth quarter of last year because of slow demand, reports Reuters.
For the whole of 2008, CIMC reported a 56 per cent decrease in its net profit from 2007 to CNY1.41 billion, citing also CNY700 million provisions for its inventories.
It sold 1.56 million TEU of standard dry-cargo containers in 2008, a fall of 26 per cent against the previous year, with slow sales keeping its inventories high at the end of 2008, the company said.
"Looking forward to 2009, it is still hard to say that the economic shock brought about by the global financial will end," CIMC said in its 2008 earnings report filed to the Shenzhen Stock Exchange.
"Along with the recession of many global economies and the slowdown in China, our company's container business, which is closed related to the world's shipping and trade, will continue being affected negatively," the company said.
The loss compared with a net profit of CNY1.24 billion that CIMC recorded in the same quarter of 2007, as the company was forced to stop producing dry-cargo containers in the fourth quarter of last year because of slow demand, reports Reuters.
For the whole of 2008, CIMC reported a 56 per cent decrease in its net profit from 2007 to CNY1.41 billion, citing also CNY700 million provisions for its inventories.
It sold 1.56 million TEU of standard dry-cargo containers in 2008, a fall of 26 per cent against the previous year, with slow sales keeping its inventories high at the end of 2008, the company said.
"Looking forward to 2009, it is still hard to say that the economic shock brought about by the global financial will end," CIMC said in its 2008 earnings report filed to the Shenzhen Stock Exchange.
"Along with the recession of many global economies and the slowdown in China, our company's container business, which is closed related to the world's shipping and trade, will continue being affected negatively," the company said.