Striving for Steady Annual Business Performance Growth - CMPort Holds Annual General Meeting

Striving for Steady Annual Business Performance Growth

CMPort Holds Annual General Meeting

    On June 2, China Merchants Port Holdings Company Ltd. (also known as "CMPort" or "the Company", SEHK stock code: 00144.HK) held its Annual General Meeting (“AGM”) in Hong Kong. The meeting was hosted by the Chairman of the Meeting, Yim Kong, and attended by the Managing Director Xu Song, Non-executive Director Li Ka Fai David, and General Manager of the Board Office, Cheng Pui Wai Carol, among others.

    The AGM duly passed all five resolutions on the agenda by a large majority. The approved resolutions mainly include: (1) Distributing a final dividend for 2022 of 60 Hong Kong cents per share; (2) Approving the audited consolidated financial statements for 2022, along with the Directors' Report and the Independent Auditor's Report; and (3) Re-electing Mr. Wang Xiufeng, Mr. Yim Kong, Mr. Li Ka Fai David, Mr. Xu Song, Mr. Tu Xiaoping, Mr. Lu Yongxin, Mr. Yang Guolin, Mr. Chan Hiu Fung, Ms. Chan Yuen Sau Kelly, and Ms. Wong Pui Wah as Directors.

    At the meeting, the management team addressed shareholder questions regarding the company's business volume, dividend policy, exchange rate risk, and the impact of geopolitics. After the AGM, Yim Kong and Xu Song jointly accepted interviews from TVB, NOW TV, Radio Television Hong Kong, and ET Net.

    Yim Kong stated that with the rebound of foreign trade and the recovery of business volumes around the Bohai Rim, CMPort has completed a total throughput of 42.93 million TEUs from January to April this year. So far this year, CMPort has made several business breakthroughs. Overseas, the refrigerated container throughput at TCP in Brazil hit a historical high in February. In April, the company signed an agreement for a South Asian trade and logistics center project in Sri Lanka, joining hands with the Sri Lankan side to build a modern multifunctional logistics center in South Asia. In Mainland China, the company has continuously expanded the coverage of the coordinated port blockchain platform in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, newly opened Zhanjiang as a coordinated port, and has incorporated a total of 28 ports, achieving a business throughput of over 350,000 TEUs. The port community service platform "CMePort 3.0" was launched and is expected to cover all ports under the company's control in China by the second half of this year.

    Reporters expressed concern about the impact of global shipping cost fluctuations and the situation of China's foreign trade on CMPort's performance for the second half of the year, as well as the company's future investment direction. Xu Song stated that, in recent years, amidst the fluctuations in shipping costs, port tariffs have become more stable. Coupled with the recovery of China's economy and the enhanced resilience of industrial and supply chains, he expressed his confidence that these factors will stimulate steady growth in the port industry. Therefore, the company will strive to achieve a modest increase in its annual business performance. He pointed out that, in line with CMPort's strategy of 'meticulously cultivating Southeast Asia, the Middle East & Latin America', the company's overseas investments will prioritize areas like the Southeast Asian RCEP region, the Middle East, and Latin America, where there is rapid economic growth and significant potential for the development of manufacturing. At present, the company is actively following up on some investment projects, aiming for breakthroughs.