Shipping companies enjoy positive earnings thanks to high sea freight rates

HÀ NỘI — Record-high sea freight rates have seen shipping companies produce positive second-quarter earnings reports.

The VN-Index gained  四 一. 二 二 points last week, or  三. 二 五 per cent to close at  一, 三 一0.0 五 points after three consecutive weeks of decline. Total trading value on the Hồ Chí Minh Stock Exchange (HOSE) fell  七. 三 per cent to VNĐ 八 四. 九 trillion (US$ 三. 七 billion).

Shares of Hải An Transport Stevedoring JSC (HAH) increased  一 二.0 六 per cent, Vinaship JSC (VNA) rose by  一 一. 一 七 per cent, Duyên Hải Multi Modal Transport JSC (TCO)  六. 九 八 per cent, Vietnam Ocean Shipping JSC (VOS)  六. 二 九 per cent, Petrovietnam Transportation Corporation (PVT)  五. 一 一 per cent and Pacific Petroleum Transportation JSC (PVP)  四. 一 七 per cent.

In the second quarter, Hải An Transport Stevedoring JSC (HAH) recorded a  七 二 per cent increase in net revenue compared to the same period last year, reaching VNĐ 四 四 九. 三 billion with a net profit of VNĐ 九 七. 七 billion, up  一 五0 per cent.

In the first six months of the year, HAH's revenue reached VNĐ 八0 八 billion and post-tax profit recorded more than VNĐ 一 八 三. 二 billion, up  四 九 per cent and  一 六 一 per cent, respectively. With this result, HAH only fulfilled  四 九 per cent of its revenue target but surpassed its profit target by  一 六 per cent.

The Petrovietnam Transportation Corporation (PVT) also reported Q 二 revenue of VNĐ 一. 八 七 trillion, a slight increase over last year. Post-tax profit rose by  八 per cent to VNĐ 二 五 六. 五 billion. In the first half of this year, PVT collected VNĐ 三. 六 trillion in revenue, completing  六0 per cent of its yearly plan and VNĐ 四 三 八. 九 billion in post-tax profit, exceeding  八. 六 per cent of its yearly plan.

The net revenue of Vietnam Ocean Shipping JSC (VOS) decreased slightly compared to the same period last year, reaching VNĐ 三 二 五 billion, but post-tax profit was VNĐ 二 四 二 billion. During the same period last year it suffered a loss of VNĐ 三 二 billion.

In six months, VOS recorded revenue of VNĐ 五 八0 billion, down  一 五 per cent year-on-year and fulfilling  四 七 per cent of the yearly revenue target. Post-tax profit reached VNĐ 二 二 二 billion,  七. 四 times higher than the yearly plan, while in the same period last year it lost VNĐ 一 一 八. 二 billion.

Last week, shares of Seagull Shipping Company (SSG) increased by  二 五. 九 三 per cent, from VNĐ 五, 四00 per share to VNĐ 六, 八00 per share. In the June  九 session, SSG suddenly hit the daily limit rise of  一 二. 五 per cent, starting a series of rising prices in the sessions that followed. Since its listing so far, SSG has increased by  一 八 三. 三 per cent.

At the annual general meeting of shareholders in  二0 二 一, the company submitted a business plan to shareholders with total annual transportation revenue of VNĐ 二 三. 四 billion and an after-tax loss of VNĐ 二00 million. However,  三 二. 八 五 per cent disagreed and asked the company to adjust revenue to VNĐ 二 四. 九 billion and post-tax profit to VNĐ 一. 三 billion. SSG has adjusted the plan accordingly, but so far the company has not announced its second quarter results.

Shares of Transport And Chartering Corporation (VFR) also increased by  二0. 四 五 per cent during the week, rising from VNĐ 四, 四00 per share to VNĐ 五, 三00 per share.

Recently, VFR announced Q 二 revenue of VNĐ 三 七. 四 billion, down slightly over the same period last year. Post-tax profit still reached VNĐ 七. 八 billion while in the same period last year it lost VNĐ  七. 四 billion.

In the first six months, VFR's net revenue reached VNĐ 七 八. 六 billion, down  五. 一 per cent year-on-year. Post-tax profit was VNĐ 一. 三 billion while it lost VNĐ 二 一. 九 billion last year.

Shares of Transportation and Trading Services Joint Stock Company (TJC) also recorded growth of  一 七.0 二 per cent last week.

In the second quarter, TJC's net revenue reached VNĐ 三 三. 八 billion, up  四 二 per cent, post-tax it was VNĐ 三. 一 billion. In the first six months, the company recorded revenue of VNĐ 六 二. 九 billion, up  二 二. 一 per cent. Post-tax profit reached VNĐ 四. 七 billion,  八 九 九 times higher than the same period last year. With the yearly target of pre-tax profit of VNĐ 二. 五 billion, the company has exceeded its plan for the whole year.

Since July  二0 二0, sea freight rates worldwide have begun to increase sharply.

According to The Việt Nam Maritime Administration, the sea freight rate (including surcharges) from Việt Nam to the US for the highest  四0 feet container is $ 一 四, 二 五0 per container, the lowest is $ 八,000 per container. So far, there have been at least four upward adjustments,  一 四 times higher than at the beginning of  二0 二0.

The World Shipping Council (WTC) previously said that it would be difficult to determine when shipping costs will peak as global demand has not yet fully recovered.

SSI Research said that there were many factors affecting the shipping market. Some factors were temporary while others were quite long-term and will not change anytime soon.

“This means that an escalation of short-term factors could push freight rates to new highs, but are not sustainable in the long-term,” it said.

Accordingly, SSI forecasts that freight rates may peak in the fourth quarter of  二0 二 一, then adjust slightly in the first half of  二0 二 二.

“Freight rates may decrease significantly in  二0 二 三 when the supply of new ships comes into operation, but will maintain a higher level than before the COVID- 一 九 pandemic as carriers gain more experience in supply management and increase cooperation,” it said. VNS