Evergreen Marine Corp (長榮海運) yesterday said that it has acquired a 10 percent stake in Charing Yang Development Co (長陽開發) for NT$450 million (US$14.67 million) as the nation’s largest container cargo shipper aims to seek stable dividend income.
The investment raises Evergreen Marine’s stake in Charing Yang Development to 50 percent, company president Eric Hsieh (謝惠全) told a news conference in Taipei.
Hsieh said Evergreen Marine increased its investment in Charing Yang, as the developer has reported stable profit growth and dividends in the past few years on the back of rent revenue from department stores in central Taoyuan.
Photo: CNA
The shipper expects the value of real estate in the area to increase, he said.
Evergreen Marine has also decided to purchase two office buildings in Taoyuan from Evergreen International Corp (長榮國際) for NT$4.74 billion, Hsieh said.
The property purchase is for the shipper’s own use and aims to reduce rental costs while seeking investment gains, he said.
Commenting on the outlook of the cargo shipping sector, Hsieh said that Evergreen Marine has seen demand rebound from last month, with its load factor rising above 90 percent this month following the easing of COVID-19 restrictions in China.
Freight rates on some routes have decreased at a slower rate, while some have begun to recover, he said.
With some of its peers planning to charge higher fees from next month, Evergreen Marine plans to follow suit by imposing an additional fee of US$1,000 per container on US routes, given rising demand, Hsieh said.
“Business should be rosy before the Lunar New Year holiday,” he said.
Next year, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the implementation of stricter emissions rules by the International Maritime Organization would affect the shipping market the most, Hsieh said.
Evergreen last month reported a double-digit annual fall in revenue to NT$36 billion, but its cumulative revenue still rose 37 percent to NT$597 billion for the first 11 months of this year thanks to strong revenue growth in the first half of this year, company data showed.
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