Profits of the shipping industry sublime

Profits of many shipping companies increased by double digits after half a year, reaching the target of the whole year due to high transportation costs.

In the second quarter, Gemadept Joint Stock Company (GMD) recorded a profit after tax of more than VND 334 billion, up 87% over the same period last year. This is the company's highest profit since the second quarter of 2018. After 6 months, Gemadept has completed nearly three quarters of the full year profit plan.

With quite similar profit, Hai An Transport and Unloading Joint Stock Company (HAH) achieved a profit of more than VND 324 billion, 3.3 times higher than the same period last year. This is a record level from the third quarter of 2014 up to now. Hai An also exceeded the target profit after tax for the whole year by about 7% after only 6 months.

The "big brother" Vietnam National Shipping Lines (Vinalines - MVN) also set a profit record since the announcement in the third quarter of 2018. The company earned more than 1,434 billion dong in after-tax profit, up 95% over the same period. Accumulated in the first half of the year, Vinalines completed more than 84% of the year's profit plan. Thanks to the soaring profit, the company's accumulated loss also decreased by nearly 36% to more than 2,600 billion dong.

After several quarters of business losses, Vietnam Shipping Joint Stock Company (Vosco - VOS) began to "revive" from the middle of last year. In the second quarter of 2022, the company's profit after tax was VND 260 billion. Although it only increased by about 7.5% over the same period, this is still Vosco's highest quarterly profit in nearly 14 years. The company is only about 6% from the full year profit target.

Even PetroVietnam Transportation Joint Stock Corporation (PVTrans - PVT), whose profit after tax went back 16% due to a lack of financial revenue and fleet investment, its main business still recorded growth. positive. The company's gross profit reached more than 440 billion VND, the highest level since this company announced information in the first quarter of 2007. Profit after tax decreased, but only about 4% from the full year profit plan.

Profit after tax of some shipping enterprises

Fees still climbing is the common keyword that businesses explain for this flourishing profit. Bao Viet Securities (BVSC) compiled data from Bloomberg, showing that the world container freight rate index in the second quarter decreased from about $10,000 at the beginning of the year to around $8,000 per 40-foot container, but still higher. 4 times higher than the same period in the 2019-2020 period.

Freight rates keep pace with rising fuel prices. Since the beginning of the year, the price of Brent crude oil has increased by nearly 46%, reaching over $110 a barrel at the end of June. The first half of the year had many factors driving the rise in oil prices. The main factor is the Russia-Ukraine geopolitical conflict along with the US and EU sanctions against Russia, causing unpredictable impacts on the energy market. In addition, the lack of supply due to the global economic recovery is also the main reason for the "galloping" oil price.

However, the freight for transporting a 40-foot container from Vietnam to the US has dropped sharply from the peak of 21,000 USD to about 8,000-11,000 USD. Cooling freight rates while high input costs are forecasted by FiinGroup to affect the profit margin of this industry group in the second half of the year. Along with that, there is a risk that China may prolong its zero-Covid policy, which may lead to a decrease in shipping volume.

Phi Hung