Jinhui beats Q4 forecasts on record charter rates, warns of rising volatility

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

28 Feb 2008

Jinhui Shipping posted fourth quarter pretax profits ahead of expectations on the back of record charter rates for its vessels, and said that while it expects the dry bulk market to remain strong, there is likely to be increased volatility on the back of faltering economic growth. Even accounting for a 20.3 mln usd gain on the sale of a vessel, the Hong Kong-based freight shipping group beat analyst forecasts with its fourth quarter numbers.It posted operating profits of 73.5 mln usd, up from 18.1 mln last year, and ahead of the 47 mln consensus forecast of analysts polled by TDN Finans.Sales came in at 98.9 mln usd, up from 48.2 mln last time and beating the 90 mln figure forecast by analysts.Looking ahead, the Jinhui said it remains confident in its prospects, despite concerns about slowing economies in parts of the world.'While a mild recession of the US economy is generally expected, we continue to believe the growth in global dry bulk sea-bourne trade to remain at healthy levels,' it said, pointing in particular to continued infrastructure investments in China, India and other emerging economies.However the firm added that in general, it believes the 'outlook of the dry bulk market will be strong yet not without volatility'.