Freight forwarder Dimerco Express Corp (中菲行) yesterday reported a net profit of NT$300 million (US$10.7554 million) for the first quarter, up 207 percent from a year earlier, thanks in part to higher freight rates.
Earnings per share (EPS) rose to NT$2.38, from NT$0.77 a year earlier, the company said in a statement.
Dimerco, which focuses on strategic logistics planning and execution for the international transportation of goods, attributed the profit growth to higher revenue of NT$6.98 billion in the first three months of this year, up 68 percent from a year earlier.
Revenue from its air and sea cargo forwarding operations expanded 53 percent annually to NT$3.5 billion and 93 percent to NT$3 billion respectively, making up 51 percent and 44 percent of its total sales, company data showed.
However, its first-quarter gross margin fell from 15.95 percent a year earlier to 13.71 percent due to higher operating costs, it said in a filing to the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE).
That was lower than T3EX Global Holdings Corp’s (台驊國際投資控股) gross margin of 18 percent, but higher than Soonest Express Co’s (捷迅) gross margin of 9.75 percent, companies’ data showed.
Soonest, a Taipei Exchange-listed forwarder that mainly concentrates on air cargo forwarding, on Wednesday reported a net profit of NT$48 million for the first quarter, up 50 percent from NT$32 million a year earlier, it said in a filing to the TWSE.
Its EPS grew from NT$1.1 a year earlier to NT$1.6, company data showed.
Soonest’s board of directors on Wednesday approved a proposal to distribute a cash dividend of NT$4 per share, compared with Dimerco’s proposed cash dividend of NT$5.2 and T3EX’s NT$3.2.
T3EX yesterday reported revenue of NT$2.06 billion for last month, up 64 percent from a year earlier, thanks to strong cargo demand as economies recover and freight rates rise in light of the Suez Canal incident in late March, it said in a statement.
Revenue from its sea freight forwarding totaled NT$1.26 billion for last month, up 204 percent from NT$417 million a year earlier, while its air cargo forwarding fell 26 percent year-on-year to NT$467 million, company data showed.
T3EX said it expects freight rates for air and sea cargo to remain comparatively high this quarter.
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