COSCO Shipping Holdings booked more revenue and less profit in the six months to June 30, 2026. Revenue rose 2.59% to 111.92bn yuan, while profit attributable to shareholders fell 23.59% to 13.39bn yuan, according to its semiannual report filed with Japan's Kanto Local Finance Bureau on September 29. The figures cover January to June. The company's directors approved the interim financial information on August 28.
Volume up, margin down
Container shipping brought in 107.30bn yuan, up 2.38%. Volumes rose 7.52% to 14,279,451 TEU. Revenue per TEU on international routes slipped to US$1,180.68 from US$1,205.95.
The container unit's EBIT was 15.19bn yuan against 21.51bn yuan a year earlier. Its EBIT margin fell to 14.15% from 20.52%, a drop of 6.37 percentage points. Group operating costs rose 6.14% to 91.99bn yuan, outpacing revenue growth.
Shareholder returns and other items
The board declared an interim dividend of 0.43 yuan a share, about 49% of attributable profit. The 2025 interim payout was 0.56 yuan a share. Basic earnings per share were 0.88 yuan against 1.12 yuan.
The filing attributes a swing in other income and expenses, from a 1.82bn yuan gain to a 40.4mn yuan loss, mainly to foreign-exchange losses as the dollar weakened against the yuan. It ties lower finance income to smaller average deposits and lower deposit rates. It gives no single explanation for the fall in attributable profit.
The company also reports 82 container ships under construction, with capital commitments of 75.51bn yuan for future vessel building.