Cosco first half earnings up 90%

Beijing: China Cosco Holdings Company Limited says its unaudited results for the six month period ended June 30 show that net profit attributable to the parent company increased by more than 90% when compared to the same period last year.

China COSCO bought major shipping assets from its parent group late last year. Including those assets, it would have made a net profit of 7.05 billion yuan ($1.0 billion) in the first half of 2007, the company said in a statement to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

The estimated 90% rise in net profit for the first half of this year was attributed to the international shipping market performing healthily overall, enabling the company to "actively adopt effective measures to increase revenue and reduce expenses", the release said. [09/07/08]