China Shipping Container Lines (CSCL) yesterday recommended its first dividend as strong demand for seaborne transport services saw the mainland's No2 carrier easily beat the consensus forecast for last year's earnings.
The dedicated container shipping division of the state-owned China Shipping Group posted a net profit of 4.02 billion yuan - beating analyst consensus of 3.4 billion yuan - on sales of 22.36 billion yuan, up 46.4 per cent year on year.
'People have been reluctant to take China Shipping seriously, but these results will probably convert a few people,' said a transport analyst.
It offered investors a maiden dividend of 20 fen per share.
CSCL, which listed in Hong Kong eight months ago, has been rapidly expanding its box-fleet in an aggressive attempt to capture market share, particularly on the lucrative Pacific trades.
It added 25,000 teu (20-foot equivalent units) in deep-sea capacity in the second half of last year when demand for space to transport the mainland's exports was at a premium.
