Shenzhen International's profit rises 36pc in 2011 on organic growth

PostTime:2012-04-10 08:32:27 View:504

SHENZHEN International Holdings Limited has announced that profit attributable to shareholders in 2011 rose by 36 per cent compared to the previous year to HK$1,745 million (US$224.74 million). The significant growth of the logistics business was mainly attributed to the successive openings and improved operational performance of new logistics centres as well as economies of scale benefiting from the expanded operating scale. In addition, enhanced operating efficiency and control of operating expenses were said to have enhanced the competitive edge of the group's logistics business. Revenue for the 12-month period ending December 31 (excluding construction service revenue from toll roads) increased by 18 per cent year on year to HK$4.9 billion. Profit before finance costs and tax from its core business amounted to HK$3,100 million, representing a growth of 35 per cent over 2010. Within this total profit from its core business grew by 62 per cent over 2010 to a record HK$1,482 million, the group said in a statement posted by PRNewswire-Asia. The increase in toll revenue was attributed to the "stable growth of the Chinese economy, the increase in the ownership of small-displacement vehicles, together with the completion of conversion works on existing roads and opening of extension section," the statement said. With the group holding a 25 per cent stake in Shenzhen Airlines since April 2010, the carrier last year contributed a profit of HK$424 million to the group, up from HK$143 million in 2010. The group increased its equity interest in the airline to 49 per cent in January this year with the completion of the acquisition of an extra 24 per cent stake. Of the future, Shenzhen International chairman Guo Yuan said: "The group will continue to increase its investment and explore in logistics sector and strive to turn the logistics business to become the main driver of the group's future growth. As the toll road business has become mature, the group will focus on developing the newly-completed projects so as to bring in relatively stable investment returns and adequate cash flow."  

'K' Line adds Ningbo and Shenzhen-Da Chan Bay to intra Asia loops

PostTime:2012-03-26 08:23:51 View:1727

JAPANESE "K" Line has announced it will add two China calls - Ningbo in Zhejiang province and Da Chan Bay in western Shenzhen - to its weekly intra-Asia Jabco-1 and Jabco-2 loops, offering direct trade linkage for Japan, China, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam. "K" Line will deploy four 2,500-TEU ships for the Jabco-1 service and another four 1,700-TEU vessels for the Jabco-2 string. Port rotation for Jabco-1 includes Tokyo, Yokohama, Shimizu, Yokkaichi, Nagoya, Shanghai, Ningbo, Laem Chabang, Manila, Ningbo, Shanghai, and back to Tokyo. The estimated time of arrival (ETA) at Tokyo for Jabco-1 is April 23. Jabco-2 loop will call at Tokyo, Nagoya, Osaka, Kobe, Moji, Shanghai, Da Chan Bay-western Shenzhen, Ho Chi Minh, Laem Chabang and back to Ho Chi Minh and Tokyo. Its ETA at Tokyo is April 25. Both loops take 28 days for their individual voyage.

SBS Worldwide starts HK, Shenzhen, Shanghai to US consolidation

PostTime:2012-03-09 08:54:48 View:671

THE Atlanta office of UK-based SBS Worldwide has launched three consolidation services with weekly departures from Shenzhen, Hong Kong and Shanghai to New York. The SBS simplified consolidation services are designed to meet the needs for transparent pricing and fixed-weekly sailings with reliable transit times, said a company statement. "Most weekly consolidation services from China to the US transship are via Hong Kong. By offering consolidation services from Shenzhen and Shanghai directly to New York, we are able to remove a transport leg, which reduces lead times and makes the service more cost efficient," said SBS Worldwide chairman Steve Walker. "The fact a transport leg has been removed also increases the reliability of service as the risk of goods being delayed in transit are lessened," said Mr Walker. New services also reduce the risk of cargo being damaged during transport as product is only handled once at origin, compared with services that tranship via Hong Kong where cargo needs to be re-loaded, the company said.  

Shenzhen January container volume falls 7.8pc to 1.93 million TEU

PostTime:2012-02-29 08:26:20 View:565

TROUBLED by an export slowdown, the Port of Shenzhen's container volume fell 7.8 per cent to 1.93 million TEU in January, reports Xinhua, with throughput of laden boxes sliding 7.6 per cent to 958,322 TEU. An unidentified official at Shenzhen's Shekou Container Terminal pointed out that there had been a shrinkage of consumer demand overseas, resulting in a weak Chinese export performance. In addition, moving of more and more processing factories from Shenzhen into hinterland China combined with competition from neighbouring ports with lower prices also diminished Shenzhen throughput. Another unidentified official from the China Merchants Western Shenzhen Terminals said Shenzhen was beset by uncertainty. Whether the port can maintain its leading status depends on whether Shenzhen can develop new competitive advantages, he said.

Shenzhen maps out plan to be a financial hub

PostTime:2012-02-04 20:11:51 View:500

Chinese authorities are working on a plan to develop a special economic zone in China's southern province of Shenzhen which will focus on growing the financial and services sector, the China Securities Journal said on Thursday, Reuters reports. Citing unidentified government officials, the paper said the government aims to transform Shenzhen's port city of Qianhai into a key financial centre and was seeking Beijing's support for innovations, such as setting up an insurance exchange and a market for banking instruments. The city is also planning to become a cross border yuan settlement hub that will serve as an offshore centre for Hong Kong, it said. Authorities are currently working on concrete measures to rapidly promote the area, the paper said, and may introduce preferential policies for financial sector development to encourage banks to set up shop, the newspaper said. The Shenzhen government is also seeking Beijing's approval to launch commodities futures exchanges, cross-border gold exchange and a reinsurance exchange, the paper said. Shenzhen is competing with Shanghai to play a bigger role in China's financial liberalisation. Earlier this week, Shanghai unveiled plans to expand its financial markets and boost foreign participation over the next four years as part of efforts to develop the city into a global financial hub by 2020.

Guizhou signs customs deal with Shenzhen, Guangxi, Yunnan, Zhanjiang

PostTime:2011-10-20 08:37:53 View:1830

SOUTHWESTERN Guizhou province has signed a regional customs clearance cooperation agreement with Shenzhen, south eastern province Guangxi, Yunnan and southern province Zhanjiang, Xinhua reports. Under the agreement, the four parties will join to reduce barriers in regional policies that hinder logistics add costs. Import and export transshipments from inland areas can enjoy simplified customs clearance procedures at coastal region. Last year, Guizhou posted a foreign trade value of US$3.1 billion, up 36 per cent over 2009. Guizhou will seize this opportunity and invite coastal cities to set up "dry ports" in the province that local shippers have longed for.  

China Merchants' Shekou and Chiwan western Shenzhen terminals awarded

PostTime:2011-07-12 08:24:01 View:1025

SHENZHEN's Shekou Container Terminal and Chiwan Container Terminal, in which China Merchants are principal shareholders, has been honoured as one of the Top 10 Best Service Container Terminal, and also as the Top 10 Container Terminal of Information Technology at the eight China Freight Award ceremony held in Shanghai. The accolades issued at the conference are considered to be like the 'Oscars' in the China freight industry, a company statement said.

Cosco Shenzhen orders new bulk carriers at CSSC

PostTime:2011-06-30 08:35:41 View:745

The signing ceremony for the building of COSCO's Bulk Carriers Designated for Coastal Services was held between Shenzhen Ocean Shipping Company ("COSCO Shenzhen"), a subsidiary of China COSCO, and China State Shipbuilding Corporation ("CSSC"), COSCO press release said. The historic ceremony was attended and witnessed by Hon. Wang Yang, Member of CPC Central Political Bureau and Party-secretary of Guangdong Provincial Government, Hon. Huang Huahua, Governor of Guangdong Provincial Government, Zhu Xiaodan, Deputy Governor of Guangdong Province, Captain Wei Jiafu, President and CEO of COSCO Group and Chairman of China COSCO, and Tan Zuojun, President of CSSC.    Prior to the signing ceremony, Hon. Wang Yang and Governor Huang Huahua met with Captain Wei and his COSCO delegation. Both sides exchanged views concerning the framework agreement of strategic cooperation between COSCO and Guangdong Province ("Framework Agreement"). As a major subsidiary engaged in implementing the Framework Agreement, Shenzhen Ocean Shipping made a plan to contract 8 vessels (totaling approximately 1.6 billion RMB) of a fleet of new bulk carriers specially designated for coastal services in China market to an affiliated shipyard owned and operated by CSSC, a key SOE under the direct administration of State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission ("SASAC"). Based on the innovation and design by COSCO Shenzhen, the two types of new bulk vessels, namely Hua Nan Type and Yangtze Type, are large sized bulk vessels that have adopted 12 items of international standards for the best environmental, fuel saving and technically advanced operations. Reflecting the shipbuilding trends for China's coastal service ships, the vessels will accommodate the future requirements of the Chinese government on standardized ship type and environmental protection. In a remark made by Captain Wei at the signing ceremony, he said that under the support of Guangdong Provincial Government COSCO Group and CSSC have jointly achieved great progress in Guangdong, and the signing of the 8 bulk vessels will indicate that the two parties will make even greater accomplishment in the next five years and to jointly contribute to the economic developments of Guangdong Province.

Shenzhen enters the airmail business

PostTime:2011-06-17 08:19:28 View:897

The Shenzhen post office this week sent a consignment of mail to the International Cargo Centre Shenzhen where it was loaded on a China Airlines flight for Taipei. It marked Shenzhen's entry into the international airmail market. With several contracts signed recently, it is expected there will soon be international regular mail and express mail delivered to Frankfurt, Los Angeles and other destinations served by China Airlines and Lufthansa from Shenzhen Bao'an International Airport.

Shenzhen volume increases 3.4pc in first four months to 6.84 million TEU

PostTime:2011-06-14 08:11:58 View:678

SHENZHEN port, adjacent to Hong Kong, posted 3.4 per cent year-on-year increase in container shipping to 6.84 million TEU in the first four months of the year, Xinhua reported. But overall cargo tonnage in and out fell 7.8 per cent to 260,800 tonnes. Government statistics showed that the city's traffic maintained steady growth in the first four months of 2011 with cargo volume rising 20 per cent year on year to 85.1 million tonnes. Cargo volume increased 24.9 per cent to 60.5 billion tonnes per kilometre, 1.4 per cent faster than in the first quarter, Xinhua reports. The city's passenger traffic grew eight per cent to 531 million people. Turnover volume was 23 billion people per kilometre, up 17.4 per cent. Shenzhen airport recorded a cargo and mail throughput of 260,800 tonnes, up 7.8 per cent. Air passenger volume rose four per cent to 9.28 million passengers.  

Shenzhen seeks Danish investment

PostTime:2011-06-10 10:11:02 View:563

COPENHAGEN - Officials and experts from Shenzhen, China, were in Denmark to boost trade and attract investment in high-technology, new energy and other emerging industries, on Monday. "We expect to experience much faster development in terms of the new energy, internet and biology sectors," said Gao Guohui, deputy secretary-general of the Shenzhen municipal government, at the Shenzhen Economic and Trade Cooperation conference in Copenhagen. The conference was aimed at connecting Danish firms and investors with relevant Shenzhen counterparts. "In the coming years, Shenzhen is going to develop emerging industries of strategic importance like new energy, new materials, internet and biology," said Gao Lin, deputy director-general of Shenzhen Science, Industry, Trade and Information Technology Commission. "We would like to attract more and more foreign enterprises, especially Danish companies, in line with the industry strategy of Shenzhen," he told Xinhua. Located in Southeast China, Shenzhen was designated the country's first special economic zone in 1980, and today enjoys a gross domestic product of $14,000 per capita -- higher than the standard of Beijing or Shanghai. Traditionally, the city has focused on hi-technology, finance, culture and logistics as growth drivers. Now, the government plans to generate between 650 billion yuan ($100 billion) and 700 billion yuan from emerging industries by 2015, Gao said. Denmark, with its strengths in renewable energy technology, pharmaceuticals, shipping and logistics, and proven innovative capacity, hopes to play a role in this process. "We have about 80 percent small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and only 20 percent bigger companies," said Tom Jensen, secretary-general of the Danish-Chinese Business Forum, referring to Denmark's industrial structure. "The innovation process is often very quick in SMEs because they can take decisions quicker than big companies. Therefore, good cooperation between Danish and Chinese SMEs would be a good base for speeding up innovation between our countries to the benefit of Denmark and China," he told Xinhua. It is expected that support from Danish and other foreign investors will further boost innovation by Shenzhen's local firms and start-ups. Though Danish businesses have previously overlooked the city in favor of Shanghai or Hong Kong, Jensen believes it is time to draw Danish businesses' attention to Shenzhen. He added that Shenzhen "can be a good hub" for Danish industries wanting to invest in Southeast Asia's vibrant markets, as it is geographically close to major financial centers like Hong Kong and Singapore, but cheaper to operate from.

Shenzhen sets throughput record in 2010

PostTime:2011-02-09 19:10:36 View:814

Shenzhen Port, one of China's busiest ports, saw its container throughput in 2010 hit a record high of 22.51 million TEUs, 23.34 percent more than in 2009, according to the Transport Commission of Shenzhen Municipality.The 770,000 TEUs increase was the highest on record and reflected the eighth consecutive year that the port has maintained its position as the world's fourth busiest port, reported China Knowledge Press.In 2010, about 24,353 international container lines operated at the port, and its overseas container throughput accounted for 75 percent of the total.