China COSCO Holdings registered first quarter losses of CNY2.7 billion (US$430 million) for the year, compared to a loss of CNY502 million for the same period last year.
COSCO, which runs Asia’s biggest container shipper by capacity, saw volume at its container shipping unit shoot up 20 percent, but revenue increased just 2 percent to CNY8.05 billion, as a result of low freight rates and high operating expenses.
The conglomerate posted a full-year loss of CNY10.5 billion in 2011, and analysts do not expect it to make a profit until 2014.
Meanwhile, China Shipping Container Lines, China’s second largest carrier, recorded a first quarter net loss of CNY1.5 billion compared with a net loss of CNY146.1 million year earlier, which it blamed on soaring operating costs.
