China Airlines (CAL, 中華航空), Yang Ming Marine Transport Corp (陽明海運) and Wan Hai Lines (萬海航運) could see a boost in earnings this quarter from gains from the sale of their shares in China’s Yangtze River Express (揚子江快運航空).
In separate filings to the Taiwan Stock Exchange yesterday, the three Taiwanese companies said they had disposed of all shares in Yangtze River Express and expected to book the gains in the third quarter at the earliest.
The move signified an end to the three companies’ investment in the China-based air cargo firm majority owned by HNA Capital Holding Co (海航資本控股).
With an eye on China’s domestic air cargo business, the three Taiwanese firms jointly invested in Yangtze River Express with HNA Capital in 2006 through their subsidiaries, with CAL, Yang Ming and Wan Hai holding 25 percent, 12 percent and 6 percent respectively.
However, Yangtze River Express has continually posted losses over the years as the global air cargo business remained weak, prompting the three Taiwanese firms to sell their shares back to HNA Capital.
CAL, the nation’s largest carrier, will receive 153.06 million yuan (NT$745.07 million) from the sale, Yang Ming 73.47 million yuan and Wan Hai 36.73 million, their stock exchange filings showed.
CAL saw its revenue in the first half of the year drop 2.41 percent from a year earlier to NT$67.22 billion, the company said in its filing.
Yang Ming, the nation’s second-largest container shipper, saw its first-half consolidated sales fall 6.35 percent from a year earlier to NT$57.4 billion, while Wan Hai, the nation’s third-largest container shipper, saw its first-half consolidated revenue slide 6.75 percent to NT$28.65 billion, data released by the companies showed.
CAL shares rose 1.34 percent to NT$11.35, while Yang Ming’s and Wan Hai’s gained 0.4 percent and 1.54 percent to NT$12.65 and NT$16.50 respectively, stock exchange data showed.
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