Yantian Port Holdings to up stake in YICT

SHENZHEN Yantian Port Holdings (YPH) intends to increase its stake in Yantian International Container Terminals (YICT) to 35 per cent this year, the company reported.

This will help to improve the performance of the parent company by at least 20 per cent, industry insiders quoted by Xinhua said.

YICT is a joint venture between YPH and Hutchison Port Holdings, in which the mainland company currently holds a stake of 27 per cent.

According to YPH's annual report, YICT saw its pre-tax profit increase 18.48 per cent to CNY309.59 million (US$38.62 million) in 2005. However, net profit dropped 3.73 per cent in the same period, mainly due to increased tax liability. YICT's revenue was slightly up 4.49 per cent year-on-year to CNY643.58 million.

Container capacity handled by the terminal dropped 3.73 per cent, due to the return to normal operations of its first- and second-phase berths, the company said. This followed a period in which they had been congested.

YPH itself posted a rise in its net profit of 2.39 per cent to CNY684.48 million in 2005, supported by the sizeable growth of the company's port handling and transport operations, Xinhua said.

According to the company's annual report, YPH's 2006 operational plan sets this year's revenue target from its core operations at CNY732.3 million, while related costs are set at CNY399.92 million.

Meanwhile, a source close to YPH revealed that although domestic shareholders massively reduced their holdings in the company earlier this year, several qualified foreign institutional investors (QFII), including Citigroup, Credit Suisse First Boston, Morgan Stanley and Standard Chartered Bank, have increased their holding in the company soon after it completed its share rearrangement recently. The moves, involving the purchase of tens of millions of stock, show the QFIIs' confidence in the future development of Yantian Port Holdings, the source said.