COSCO SHIPPING Holdings Announces 2023 Interim Results

SHANGHAI, CHINA / ACCESSWIRE / August 29, 2023 / COSCO SHIPPING Holdings Co., Ltd. ("COSCO SHIPPING Holdings" or "the Company", SSE:601919; HKEx:1919) today announced its 2023 interim results.

For the year to date, the container shipping market has faced new challenges such as weak demand, global supply chains restructuring and stricter green regulation. COSCO SHIPPING Holdings has adhered to the "customer-centric" principle and accelerated the digital, intelligent and green low-carbon transformation. It continuously improved customer service quality and strengthened cost control, striving to stabilize its profit through various measures so as to actively fulfilling the role of delivering return to shareholders.

• During the Reporting Period, the Company achieved EBIT of RMB24.7 billion. It realized a net profit of RMB19.68 billion, of which the net profit attributable to the shareholders of the Company was approximately RMB16.56 billion.
• The Company actively promoted the digital transformation of its supply chain and made remarkable progress, thereby laying a solid foundation for it to withstand the cyclical fluctuations of the container shipping industry. It is the first time for the Company to disclose the revenue of supply chain excluded shipping charge, which is RMB14.5 billion,accounting for 16.4% of the revenue from the container shipping business, representing a year-on-year increase of 8.2 percentage points.
• During the Reporting Period, the Company's operating costs decreased by 35.82% year-on-year, reflecting its operational leadership in cost control capabilities.
• As at the end of 30 June 2023, the Company's asset-liability ratio was 48.56%, down approximately 2 percentage points from the end of last year. Its financial structure has been continuously optimized.
• Based on the 2022-2024 shareholder dividend reward program of COSCO SHIPPING Holdings, and taking into account the sustainable development and shareholder returns, the board of directors recommended the distribution of a cash dividend of RMB0.51 (including tax) per share to all shareholders for the first half of 2023. It is expected that the total cash dividend payment will amount to RMB8.247 billion (including tax), which is approximately 50% of the net profit attributable to shareholders of the Company for the first half of 2023.
• In order to maintain the Company's value and shareholder rights and enhance investors' confidence, and after taking into account the factors such as the Company's financial position, future development needs and reasonable valuation, COSCO SHIPPING Holdings plans to repurchase 30 million to 60 million A-shares of the Company at the price not exceeding RMB12.29 per share. After the shares repurchase, all the shares repurchased will be cancelled and the registered capital will be reduced accordingly. In addition to repurchasing its A-shares, the Company also plans to implement H-share repurchase program within the general authorization framework approved by shareholders at the 2022 Annual General Meeting, the 2023 First A-share Class General Meeting, and the 2023 First H-share Class General Meeting. The Company expects that the total number of A-share and H-share shares that can be repurchased as of 14 February 2024 will not exceed 215 million shares.

In the first half of 2023, COSCO SHIPPING Holdings steadily promoted its global development, supply chain construction, digital intelligence and green low-carbon transformation, which to some extent alleviated the downward pressure on the industry.