Evergreen Marine Has Unexpected Loss on Container-Ship Glut

News was prepared under the information support of Online Daily Newspaper on Hellenic and international Shipping "Hellenic Shipping News".

30 Oct 2011

Evergreen Marine Corp., part of Asia’s second-biggest container shipping line, had an unexpected quarterly loss as overcapacity damped cargo rates.

Net loss was NT$1.12 billion ($37.5 million), compared with net income of NT$7.64 billion a year earlier. The number was derived from nine-month earnings the Taipei-based company announced today. The average of seven analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg was for a profit of NT$2.68 billion.
Rates for hauling Asian-made toys, furniture and auto parts have tumbled this year because new ship capacity has outpaced demand. China Cosco Holding Co.’s container arm, Asia’s biggest, suffered a 26 percent drop in rates on transpacific routes in the third quarter and a 41 percent decline on services to Europe, based on its earnings statement.
Evergreen climbed 0.3 percent to NT$16.85 in Taipei trading today, before the announcement. The stock has fallen 39 percent this year, compared with the 15 percent decline in the benchmark Taiex stock index.
Nine-month net income was NT$267 million, compared with a profit of NT$11.7 billion a year earlier, the company said in a statement to the Taiwan stock exchange today.