BEIJING, April 16 (Xinhua) -- The Board of Directors of China Merchants Port Holdings Company Limited (HKSE Code: 00144) has seen its net profit rise 15.4 percent year on year in 2019 to 8,36 million HK dollars, released at an online press conference of the company held on 15 April 2020 in Hong Kong.
In 2019, its revenue totaled 9,72 million HK dollars, up 15.6 percent year-on-year. Basic earnings per share was 247.84 HK cents, up by 12.9% year-on-year.
The container throughput of the company rose by 2.4 percent year-on-year to 111.72 million TEUs. Its total bulk cargo volume handled 449 million tonnes, down by 10.5 percent year-on-year.
While facing severe external environmental challenges in 2019, CMPort continued to maintain the leading position in the global port industry, said Deng Renjie, Executive Director and the Chairman of the Board of CMPort.
In the first quarter of 2020, the container throughput of CMPort came down by 5.6 percent compared with the same period of last year due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic in the off-season of traditional business.
In this year, the Group has not only faced the complex situation of trade frictions and geopolitical conflicts, but also the uncertainty and negative impact in short term brought by Covid-19. However, with the mitigation of the Covid-19 pandemic and all the efforts taken by the Group, CMPort will strive to maintain the stable development of its port business, added Ren.
CMPort has completed the acquisition of 8 high-quality terminals of CMA CGM by the end of March 2020, and the other two will be completed within the second quarter of this year. The acquisition of ports in emerging and developed markets will help provide new impetus for the Company's future business growth and financial returns.
CMPort will continue to focus on the overseas layout of the “East-West routes, South-North routes, and the Belt and Road, especially to grasp the trend of global industrial transfer and changes in trade flow, and make a good overall development plan for overseas projects, said Ren.
Regarding the Intelligent port development of CMPort, Bai Jingtao, Managing Director & Executive Director noted automation is only a part of intelligent port. The Group has learned from the experience of Shanghai port and Qingdao port, cooperated with leading technology companies, and injected elements such as 5G, AI, CM ePort and block chain etc. The ongoing transformation and upgrading project of Mawan Container Terminal in Shenzhen will be completed in 2020 and put into full operation in mid-2021.
In 2020, the Group will utilize the balanced port investment network in different regions in China and overseas, carry out various measures to maintain productivity in order to minimize the negative impacts brought by the Covid-19, and hence endeavour to maintain a steady development of port business, emphasized Bai.
(Edited by Bao Nuomin with Xinhua Silk Road, baonuomin@xinhua.org)
A single purchase
