Chinese ports investor Cosco Pacific Ltd. reported a sharp rise in 2013 net profit thanks to growth in port-handling volume and a one-off gain from a stake sale, the company said in its press release.
Net profit for the 12 months ended Dec. 31 was US$702.7 million, blue-chip Cosco Pacific said in a statement Tuesday—more than double the year-earlier $342.2 million and well above the average $453.3 million forecast of 11 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters.
The robust results were partly driven by a net one-off gain of $393.4 million from Cosco Pacific's sale in May of its entire 21.8% stake in container maker China International Marine Containers (Group) Co. to its state-controlled parent China Ocean Shipping (Group) Co, the company said.
The stake sale was part of an effort by Cosco Pacific's immediate parent and 43% owner, China Cosco Holdings Ltd. , to return to profitability after two straight years of net losses. China Cosco's 2013 results, scheduled for release Thursday, are expected to show a gain of about $200 million from the CMIC stake sale.
The stake sale also allows Cosco Pacific to focus on its core port operations and container leasing, and raised cash to buy more port terminals in China and overseas. Just weeks after the sale, Cosco Pacific—which has stakes in container terminals in mainland China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Belgium, Egypt and Greece—announced a plan for a joint venture with rival China Merchants Holdings (International) Co. and two other entities to manage an iron-ore terminal in China's eastern Shandong province.
Early this month, Cosco Pacific and rival China Shipping Terminal Development (Hong Kong) Co., a unit of China Shipping (Group) Co., sealed a deal to spend $318.5 million for a major stake in a Hong Kong port project.
Cosco Pacific's 2013 revenue rose 8.6%, to $798.6 million from $735.5 million, as port-handling volume increased. It recommended a final dividend of 15 Hong Kong cents (about 2 U.S. cents) a share, down from the previous year's 18.3 Hong Kong cents.