HONG KONG: China Merchants Holdings (International) Co Ltd, one of the major port operators in the country, said the worst has past for the sector after it posted a 14 percent drop in first-half net profit due to lower trade volume amid the global downturn.

For the six months ended June, net profit came in at HK$1.73 billion, down from HK$2.02 billion a year ago as turnover from continuing operations slumped 25 percent to HK$1.65 billion.

The fall in turnover was mainly due to a significant drop in container throughput of ports managed by the company, which handle about one third of the country's containers, the port operator said.

Container throughput at China Merchants' ports dropped 19 percent to 20.3 million boxes during the first six months.

Throughput at the company's mainland ports, including those in Shanghai, Shenzhen and Tianjin, declined 19 percent to 17.6 million boxes.

Meanwhile, the company's ports handled an aggregate of 108 million tons of bulk cargo in the first half, down 5.2 percent when compared to that for the same period last year.

"The port operation of the group suffered from the global recession. However, the worst should have past for the sector," Chairman Fu Yuning, told a press briefing for the interim results.

He noted that container throughput during July and August has rebounded 11 percent and 8 percent, respectively, on month-on-month comparison.

The bounce in throughput during the past two months has helped narrow the year-on-year fall for the first eight months to 15 percent from 19 percent for the first half, he added.

China Daily - Bloomberg News

(HK Edition 09/11/2009 page6)