Yang Ming Scores 23-Month High June Revenue of NT$12.227 Bn.

Mainly driven by pervasive hikes of freightage  for U.S. trade lines, Yang Ming Marine Transport Corp., Taiwan's top-2 shipper by fleet size, scored revenue of NT$12.227 billion (US$407.56 million) for June, up 10.82% month-on-month, or 5.87% year-on-year, to a 23-month zenith, according to its latest financial report.

Obviously recovering from a low season in Q1, when Yang Ming suffered net losses of NT$0.48 per share, the firm finished Q2 with  NT$34.284 billion (US$1.142 billion), surging  21.39% compared to a quarter ago, according to the report.

With currently prospering business along both the U.S. and European trade lines, Yang Ming's chairman, Frank Lu, says that the shipper is very likely to turn profitable in Q2, and will  see better performance in H2 than in H1.

Lu said that the ongoing economic recovery in the U.S., which has driven market demand for shipping, is the main factor among others sustaining the current high freightage for trade lines to the country, while the steadily improving economy in Europe, where most  nations are expected to finish this year with GDP growth over 1%, is also helping to raise  rates for Asia-Mediterranean Sea routes higher than those for trans-inland European waterways.

With the peak summer season benefiting the global shipping industry along with increasingly brightening global economic outlook, Lu emphasized that the shipper will surely see stronger performance in Q3 than Q2. (SC)

June Revenue of Taiwan's Top-3 Shippers
Company	Revenue	M-on-M Growth Rate	Y-on-Y Growth Rate
Evergreen Marine Corp.	NT$11.235 Bn.	- 7.40%	- 9.41%
Yang Ming Marine Transport Corp.	NT$12.227 Bn.	5.87%	10.82%
Wan Hai Lines Ltd.	NT$5.666 Bn.	- 2.72%	12.15%

Source: Market Observation Post System