CSCL records $950M loss in 2009

China Shipping Container Liners (CSCL) announced their 2009 results on April 22nd.

CSCL posted a full-year loss of $951 million in 2009 compared with a restated profit of $6.9 million in 2008.

The Chairman of CSCL, Mr. Li Shaode, the managing director, Mr. Huang Xiaowen and other management attended the press release and the results presentation held in the Conrad, Hong Kong.

China? second-largest box carrier also revealed that revenues fell by 43.4% to 19.9Bn yuan ($2.9Bn) last year from 35.2Bn yuan in 2008.

CSCL? loaded container volume was 6,741,790 TEU, representing a decrease of approximately 3.7% as compared with last year.

In light of the difficult operating environment, the group implemented comprehensive measures in various ways in response to the market:

Firstly, CSCL reorganized their fleet structure, optimizing the trade lane design. Secondly, CSCL deepened the ?hree Refinement?philosophy and increased efficiency. The fuel cost was saved USD 31,907,000 as compared to the market price during the same period. The container management cost of single container decreased 31.8%.

The port charges averaged to single containers decreased 26.7% and stevedoring charges averaged to single container decreases 21.7%. Total annual transshipment loaded container volume of international trade lanes decreased 376,000 TEU as compared with last year. At the same time, CSCL devoted efforts to marketing, further cooperation, internal control mechanism and financial management.

It is unlikely that the global economy will head into a second dip of the recession in 2010, and the trend of economic recovery is basically clear in each economy.

Although the container shipping industry is still encountering many uncertain factors, such as an increase in oil price and the appreciation of RMB, the group believes that along with successively carrying out and implementing revenue-enhancing and expenditure control measures, the operation of the group will be improved greatly in 2010. The group is taking a careful but optimistic view about the future market situation. <Korea Shipping Gazette>