Yangzijiang Shipbuilding's profits up 45%

Singapore: Profits for Yangzijiang Shipbuilding grew 45% last year to hit an all time high. The Singapore-listed, Chinese shipbuilder reported a net profit of RMB2.29bn for 2009 up 45% from RMB1.58bn in the previous year. "The profitability for the financial year is encouraging for the whole Group. We stuck to our vessel delivery schedule and added focus will continue to be on execution of orders. We also managed to keep operating costs under control and would continue to employ this strategy," said Ren Yuanlin, chairman of Yangzijiang. The shipbuilder delivered a total of 40 vessels in 2009 and is due to deliver 48 vessels this year. At the end of 2009 the yard's orderbook $5.6bn and Yangzijiang said it had had no order cancellations. To diversify its business the shipbuilder is moving into the ship demolition and scrap steel businesses. [23/02/10]