(23rd March 2020, Hong Kong) The board of directors (“the Board”) of COSCO SHIPPING International (Hong Kong) Limited (“COSCO SHIPPING International (Hong Kong)” or the “Company”, stock code: 00517.HK) today announced the audited consolidated results of the Company and its subsidiaries (collectively the “Group”) for the year ended 31st December 2019.

In 2019, the global economy grew at the slowest pace since the financial tsunami in 2008. Factors including rising trade barriers and geopolitical events adversely affected global business confidence and economic activities, resulting in a notably decelerating trend in economic growth. Shipping enterprises and ship-owners were cautious about capital expenditures, which put some pressure on the growth of the Group’s businesses. In the face of adversities in the macro environment, the Group adhered to its positive attitude and was committed to the market expansion and cost control of business, share of profits of joint ventures from the coatings segment experienced substantial growth, leading to a significant increase in profit. Meanwhile, profit before income tax of the Group’s marine fuel and other products segment recorded a year-on-year increase.

During the year, profit attributable to equity holders of the Company increased by 16% YOY to HK$3.31 million. Basic earnings per share was 21.57 HK cents. The Board proposed a final dividend of 9.5 HK cents per share. Together with the interim dividend of 7 HK cents per share, the total dividends are 16.5 HK cents per share (2018:14 HK cents), representing a dividend payout ratio of 76.5% (2018: 75%).

The Company always strives to maintain high standard of corporate governance. In 2019, the Company continued to implement finance advancing, strengthened financial control in the course of various business reforms, enhanced financial monitoring in customer management, and implemented strict financial evaluation and access mechanism. The Company continued to optimize its internal control and risk management system, make effective use of informationization, and enhance the risk control process, thereby further promoting management awareness of compliance operations. The Company continued to pay close attention to cost control with significant results in decreasing expenses while enhancing efficiency. The Company’s continuous efforts and outstanding performance in environmental protection, social responsibility and governance have been recognized by the capital market.

We believe that, under a gloomed macro-background, the corporate value of COSCO SHIPPING International will become more prominent. The Group's operating business has excellent countercyclical and operational resilience. It has been maintaining stable cash flow with strong financial foundation. These are the unique advantages of the Company in exploring good development opportunities amid challenges.

Looking ahead, by leveraging on the enormous strength and remarkable brand value of its parent company, COSCO SHIPPING, the Group will proactively participate in the national strategic plan of China with focus on key development areas including the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and the China (Hainan) Pilot Free Trade Zone, strive for the implementation of the Company’s two major strategies, namely ‘‘unified operational platform for shipping services industrial cluster’’ and ‘‘the non-financial business investment platform’’, and build up the core competitiveness of shipping services industrial cluster, aiming to be a ‘‘world leading shipping services company’’.

Results Highlights

Editorial Note

The announcement of 2019 annual results is available on the website of the SEHK (www.hkexnews.hk) and the Company’s website (www.hk.coscoshipping.com).

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PR Division of COSCO SHIPPING International (Hong Kong)