Seatrade Maritime is part of the Informa Markets Division of Informa PLC

This site is operated by a business or businesses owned by Informa PLC and all copyright resides with them. Informa PLC's registered office is 5 Howick Place, London SW1P 1WG. Registered in England and Wales. Number 8860726.

Guangzhou Shipyard profits up on expanded capacity

Guangzhou Shipyard profits up on expanded capacity

Hong Kong: Guangzhou Shipyard International has announced a substantial rise in fourth- quarter profit after expanding capacity and shortening construction times, reports Bloomberg

Net income for the Hong Kong-listed shipbuilder climbed to 259.8m yuan ($37m) in the fourth quarter from 81.3m yuan a year earlier, according to numbers derived from 2007 earnings announced by the company to the Shanghai stock exchange today. Sales gained 254% to 2.24bn yuan.

"The company's capacity has expanded along with higher contract prices, so that's helped enlarge the growth margin for the shipbuilding business,'' Jack Xu, a Shanghai-based analyst at Sinopac Securities told the newswire.

Guangzhou Shipyard International, based in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou, last year expanded capacity by adding a dry dock and increased profitability by reorganizing production processes to save time and money. It completed 16 ships during the year and took new orders for 24 vessels of 1.14m dwt, the statement said, without providing the previous year's figures.

The shipyard plans to deliver 18 vessels this year. Expansion of facilities to build ship blocks will relieve capacity shortages this year, the company said.  [20/03/08]