DJ Cosco Shipping Shares Soar on Likely First-Quarter Profit Surge
By Martin Mou
Cosco Shipping Holdings Co. shares jumped sharply after the Chinese shipping company guided for an exponential increase in net profit growth for the first quarter.
The shipping company forecast first-quarter net profit at 15.41 billion yuan (US$2.36 billion), around 200 times the CNY76 million reported a year earlier, thanks to container rates sky-rocketing due to pandemic-induced supply shortages.
Cosco Shipping's Hong Kong-listed shares were last up 22% at HK$12.90 after soaring by as much as 30%, while its Shanghai-listed shares rose by the daily trading cap of 10% to CNY16.15.
The good days for Cosco are unlikely to end anytime soon. While shipping rates have fallen 10% from year-to-date highs, they are still sharply higher than a year earlier, Jefferies said.
The recent Suez Canal blockage could also support shipping rates in the short term, Jefferies added.
Write to Martin Mou at martin.mou@wsj.com)
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
April 06, 2021 22:16 ET (02:16 GMT)
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