Evergreen posts 4th loss in row on freight rates

The NT$2.58 billion net loss in the three months ended September compared with a profit of NT$291 million a year earlier. It was worse than the NT$286 million loss median of six analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg. The number was derived from nine-month results announced by the Taipei-based company yesterday.

Third-quarter sales plunged 36 percent as European and U.S. consumers pared spending and transportation fees declined. Container lines globally have parked ships and cut sailings as the biggest financial crisis since the Great Depression threatens to push the industry to at least US$20 billion of losses this year, according to Drewry Shipping Consultants Ltd.

“The container shipping industry is quite weak,” said Peter Tzeng, an analyst at Polaris Securities Co. in Taipei. “Global trade may have bottomed, but volumes aren't improving.”

China Cosco Holdings Co., and Neptune Orient Lines Ltd., Asia's second- and third-biggest container lines, also reported fourth straight losses last week. Neptune Orient added that “significant losses” would likely continue through the first half of next year at least.

Evergreen fell 2.7 percent to NT$16.20 in Taipei trading yesterday before the earnings announcement. The company has gained 4.9 percent this year. Six of the 11 analysts covering the company tracked by Bloomberg have a “buy” rating on the stock. Three recommend “hold” and two say “sell.”

The container line's third-quarter sales plunged to NT$3.61 billion, according to monthly filings to the Taiwan Stock Exchange. Revenue from affiliates and subsidiaries is counted separately. The group operates 168 ships with a combined capacity of 614,000 standard 20-foot boxes.

For the nine months through September, Evergreen posted a loss of NT$7.29 billion, compared with a profit of NT$1.49 billion a year earlier, the company said in a Stock Exchange filing yesterday.

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