Shanghai-listed COSCO Shipping Co., Ltd. announced on Wednesday that business revenue in the first half was up 41 percent over the same 2007 period to 3.46 billion yuan (505.1 billion U.S. dollars), with net profits at 853.05 million yuan.

The listed arm of China's major ocean shipping group COSCO, the company realized 1.3 yuan in earnings per share for the six months, a growth of 140 percent on the same period of last year.

Its net assets per share averaged 6.06 yuan, up 49.96 percent, and the net assets per share ratio was up 8.09 percentage points to 21.48 percent.

Owning and operating 90 ships, COSCO Shipping offers liner services to Southeast Asia, Bangladesh, Burma, the Persian Gulf, the Red Sea, Africa, Europe and America. It specializes in the transport of oversized and super-heavy cargoes, non-container cargoes, and cargoes with special loading and discharging requirements

(Xinhua News Agency July 9, 2008)