For the first six months of the year to the ending of June, throughout of HPH Trust ports overall was comparable to the corresponding period last year.

Throughput for Yantian International Container Terminals (YICT) was 7 per cent above last year, and the combined throughput of HIT, COSCO-HIT and ACT (collectively "HPHT Kwai Tsing") was 7 per cent lower than last year.

In a statement, HPH Trust said the increase in YICT throughput in the first six months of 2022 was mainly attributed to the increase in the US and empty cargoes, while the drop in throughput for HPHT Kwai Tsing was due to the reduction in both local and transshipment cargoes.

"The recent decline in volume of import/export cargoes handled in Hong Kong also negatively affects shipping lines' preference to use Hong Kong as one of their hubs for transshipment as the flexibility in service rotation reduces," the company said.

Global port congestions and unstable vessel schedules may have shown some improvement in recent months but are still at relatively high levels compared with historical averages.

First-half profit after tax was HKD1,514 million (US$193 million), HKD119.5 million or 7 per cent below last year. Net profit after tax attributable to shareholders was HKD716.3 million, HKD52.0 million or 7 per cent below last year.