Evergreen Marine Corp (長榮海運), the nation’s largest container shipper, yesterday reported net profit of NT$239 billion (US$8.35 billion) for last year, nine times higher than in 2020, due to soaring freight rates.
Earnings per share were NT$45.57, up from NT$5.06 a year earlier, the company said, adding that the robust earnings prompted the board of directors to propose a cash dividend of NT$18 per share.
Evergreen also decided to reduce its capitalization by 60 percent and return NT$31.7 billion to its shareholders, or NT$6 per share, it added.
Photo: Kao Shih-ching, Taipei Times
Overall, shareholders would this year receive a cash dividend of NT$24 per share if they approve the proposals at the annual general meeting on May 30, the firm said.
The capital reduction, the first in its history, aims to raise its return on equity and would not affect future investment, Evergreen president Eric Hsieh (謝惠全) told an investors’ conference in Taipei.
The company has robust cash flow and revenue, Hsieh added.
Cumulative revenue in the first two months of the year rose 93 percent to NT$112 billion from last year, as average freight rates rose to US$3,222 last month, up from US$1,800 last year, the firm said.
Evergreen expects rates to stay comparatively high in the first three quarters of this year, Hsieh said.
“Rates might edge lower in the fourth quarter, but there is only a slim chance that they will fall below US$1500, the lowest rate last year,” he said.
Earnings before the interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization margin was 64.05 percent last year, higher than AP Moller-Maersk A/S, the largest cargo shipper, he said.
Global port congestion, which has increased cargo rates, is not expected to be resolved in the near term, Hsieh said, citing negotiations for new contracts between dockworkers on the west coast of the US and port operators, as well as capacity imbalances.
Starting this year, Evergreen — the seventh-largest globally in terms of fleet size — plans to receive 61 vessels to replace aging ones, Hsieh said.
Evergreen said that the Ever Forward — a vessel with 12,000 twenty-foot equivalent units that ran aground as it was departing the Port of Baltimore on Sunday — has not leaked any fuel, or disrupted traffic entering and leaving the port.
Divers are to inspect the vessel and a coordinated effort is underway to refloat the ship as soon as possible, it added.
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