Hong Kong: The Chinese shipping majors continue to dispose of assets to try and balance their books. The latest example comes from port operator Cosco Pacific, who said in a statement yesterday, the sale of its stake in box manufacturing giant CIMC to its Beijing group parent, will generate $1.2bn in cash. Given that China Cosco Holdings, the dual listed flagship of the Cosco empire, owns 42.7% of Cosco Pacific the move has widely been seen by analysts as Cosco juggling assets to try and return to profit. China Cosco Holdings, listed in Hong Kong and Shanghai, risks being delisted at the latter bourse after reporting two straight years of net losses.
Fellow state owned shipping giant China Shipping Container Lines (CSCL) only managed to return to the black last year on the back of repeated sales of containers. [21/05/13]
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