The story comes just a day after China COSCO announced plans to raise capital by selling profitable unit Cosco Logistics to its parents China Ocean Shipping (Group) Co. Citigroup estimated the sale may be worth RMB6.4bn to RMB9.1bn, a gain of up to RMB4.6bn.
Two people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg that the company is considering selling a further RMB20bn of assets to boost earnings in 2013, although the final amount has not been decided and plans may yet change.
The asset sale has been forced by continued poor freight rates, rising fuel costs and reduced earnings across China Cosco's maritime interests as the company attempts to save itself from a third straight annual loss and subsequent delisting from the Shanghai stock exchange.
China Cosco has warned investors of a 2012 full year deficit of $1.5bn. The state-owned firm had suffered a net loss of RMB10.45bn in 2011.
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