Freight forwarder Dimerco Express Corp (中菲行) yesterday reported net profit of NT$2.31 billion (US$81.18 million) for last year, up 112 percent from a year earlier, on the back of rising freight rates.
Earnings per share rose to NT$16.98, from NT$7.98 a year earlier, the company said in a statement.
A surge in freight rates led Dimerco’s consolidated revenue to expand 70 percent year-on-year to NT$38.98 billion last year, with sea freight revenue advancing 137 percent to NT$16.2 billion and air cargo revenue increasing 47.5 percent to NT$21.2 billion, it said.
The strong results encouraged the board of directors to approve a proposal to distribute a cash dividend of NT$10.2 per share, it said.
The proposed dividend translates into a payout ratio of 60.07 percent and suggests a yield of 9.67 percent, as its shares closed at NT$104.5 yesterday.
The dividend plan would be subject to shareholders’ approval at an annual general meeting on June 8, the company said.
Rising freight rates also helped Soonest Express Co (捷迅), which focuses on air freight forwarding, increase net profit by 36 percent last year to NT$291 million, with earnings per share increasing to NT$9.72, from NT$7.15 a year earlier, the company said on Tuesday.
Separately, freight forwarder and logistics operator T3EX Global Holdings Corp (台驊國際投資控股) on Wednesday sold all of its 2 million shares in Evergreen Marine Corp (長榮海運) at NT$151 per share, booking capital gains of NT$206 million from the sale, it said in a regulatory filing.
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