Mr. Deng Renjie hosted the AGM of CMPort
On 15 June 2020, China Merchants Port Holdings Company Limited (“CMPort” or “the Company”), held an Annual General Meeting (“AGM”) in Hong Kong, the AGM was hosted by Mr. Deng Renjie, the Chairman of CMPort. Mr. Su Jian, Director of CMPort, Dr. Bai Jingtao, Managing Director of CMPort, and representatives of shareholders attended the meeting.
Majority of the votes were casted in favor of the five resolutions as proposed by the Board and hence, all of the resolutions were duly passed. The approved resolutions included the final dividend of 58 HK cents per share for the year of 2019 in scrip form with cash option, the re-election of directors of the Company, namely Mr. Deng Renjie, Mr. Su Jian, Dr. Bai Jingtao, Mr. Kut Ying Hay and Mr. Li Ka Fai, etc.
After the AGM, Deng Renjie and Bai Jingtao met with the press. Deng Renjie said, for the first five months of 2020, CMPort handled a total container throughput of 45 million TEUs, which is basically the same as last year, among which the performance of China decreased by 4.2%, overseas projects increased by 14.2% thanks to the additional throughputs from the eight newly acquired terminals of Terminal Link SAS since April. The global contagion of Covid-19 pandemic has brought negative impacts to port businesses, CMPort will strive to maintain a steady development of port business for the coming year.
Regarding concerns on the impact of Hainan Free Trade Port development to Hong Kong, Deng Renjie stated that the positioning of Hainan and Hong Kong are different , neither are their industry targets and construction phases, therefore they could be complementary instead of rivals. As we known that Hong Kong is a role model of free port in the world, CMPort has rich experience in port investments, management an operation, the Company will continue to root in Hong Kong, while exploring the investment and development opportunities of Hainan free trade port.
Concerning the rumors of privatization of CMPort, Deng Renjie said that the Company never considered privatization. He emphasized that CMPort has been listed in Hong Kong since 1992. Thanks to Hong Kong’s excellent business environment and international financing advantages, the Company will continue to base itself in Hong Kong, make full use of its capital platform to expand global business development, and create higher value for shareholders.
Deng Renjie emphasized: CMPort’s investment strategy is to achieve balanced and sustainable development of its core port business. The company will make efforts in four aspects: (1) tap investment opportunities in emerging countries and fast growing regions based on trade relocation trends; (2) seek for ports with stable returns in mature markets; (3) strengthen the operation management of existing high-quality assets; (4) use core port assets to supply chain End extension to create a better return on investment.
