Yang Ming Marine Transport Corp (陽明海運) yesterday reported net profit of NT$50.84 billion (US$1.83 billion) for last quarter — a company record — as high freight rates boosted revenue and gross margin.
In the third quarter, the container shipper posted revenue of NT$95.45 billion, up 145 percent from a year earlier, while gross profit totaled NT$64.77 billion, 10 times higher than a year earlier.
Yang Ming’s gross margin rose to 67.85 percent, up from 60.17 percent in the second quarter and compared with 14.64 percent a year earlier, although it was still lower than Evergreen Marine Corp’s (長榮海運) 69 percent, the companies’ data showed.
For the first three quarters, Yang Ming reported cumulative net profit of NT$109.88 billion and earnings per share (EPS) of NT$32.73, higher than Evergreen’s EPS of NT$30.27 and Wan Hai Lines Ltd’s (萬海航運) NT$28.37 over the same period, the companies’ data showed.
Yang Ming expects to reduce its debt-to-asset ratio, which totaled about 58 percent at the end of June, to below 50 percent by the end of this year, chairmen Cheng Chen-mount (鄭貞茂) told an event in Taipei on Wednesday.
Last year, routes to the US were the most profitable, but routes to Europe have been the most profitable this year due to congestion at US ports, Cheng said.
Given its record profits this year, the company plans to distribute dividends next year, but the amount has not yet been determined, he added.
Cheng said he remains upbeat about the outlook for the shipping business over the next two years, adding that the company would take delivery of new vessels over the next three years.
In related news, freight forwarder T3EX Global Holdings Corp (台驊國際投資控股) yesterday said that most shippers have forecast that sea cargo would increase in the first half of next year, despite risks such as port congestion and contract negotiations between workers’ unions and ports.
However, demand would still outgrow supply, likely keeping shipping rates elevated, T3EX said.
Yang Ming’s share price yesterday plunged 7.83 percent to NT$106 in Taipei trading, Taiwan Stock Exchange data showed.
NEW MARKET: The partnership opens up India to the Dutch company, which already has a strong hold in the semiconductor market of South Korea, Taiwan and China ASML Holding NV entered into a partnership agreement with Tata Electronics Pvt Ltd aimed at ramping up India’s goal to develop domestic chip-manufacturing capabilities. The Dutch company’s technology would help power Tata Electronics’ planned 300 millimeter (mm) semiconductor foundry in Gujarat, according to a joint statement from the two companies on Saturday. The signing of a memorandum of understanding coincides with a visit by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the Netherlands, which is looking to deepen bilateral relations with New Delhi. ASML, whose top customers include Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電) and Samsung Electronics Co, makes lithography machines that can print
ROUGH RECORDS: Bonds in Japan, as well is in New Zealand, Australia and the US, are seeing the effects of a nervy market as stock exchanges across Asia edge down A deepening slump in Japanese government bonds added fuel to the selloff in global debt markets as rising oil prices stoked inflation fears and pushed yields to multi-decade highs. Japan’s 30-year yield yesterday surged as much as 20 basis points to the highest level since the tenor’s debut in 1999, before paring some of the move. Shorter-maturity Japanese debt was also under pressure, underscored by weak demand at a sale of five-year notes that offered a record-high coupon of 2 percent. Concerns over inflation and government spending rippling through markets including the US, Australia and New Zealand are being amplified in Japan,
The US has cleared about 10 Chinese firms to buy Nvidia Corp’s second-most powerful artificial intelligence (AI) chip, the H200, but not a single delivery has been made so far, three people familiar with the matter said, leaving a major technology deal in limbo as chief executive officer Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) seeks a breakthrough in China this week. Huang, who was not initially listed in a White House delegation to Beijing, joined the trip after an invitation from US President Donald Trump, a source said. Trump picked him up in Alaska en route to a summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping
Wall Street is licking its chops over an unprecedented slate of massive initial public offerings (IPOs) set to arrive in the coming months, beginning with Elon Musk’s Space Exploration Technologies Corp (SpaceX) next month. That is expected to be followed by artificial intelligence (AI) rivals OpenAI and Anthropic PBC. The trio of mega listings, each eyeing valuations around US$1 trillion or more, constitutes a heady period of elevated risk and reward. SpaceX is targeting an IPO that would raise up to US$80 billion — about double the funds generated from all IPOs last year. OpenAI and Anthropic are eyeing IPOs raising US$60 billion. “We’re
RSS