Deng Renjie Hosts CMPort's 2022 Annual Results Press Conference
On March 31, China Merchants Port Holdings Co., Ltd. ("CMPort" or "the company") held a press conference (on-site & virtually) on its 2022 annual results in Hong Kong. The conference was hosted by Deng Renjie, Deputy General Manager of China Merchants Group and Chairman of the Board of CMPort.
At the meeting, Wang Xiufeng, Vice Chairman of the Board and CEO of CMPort, presented the company’s operating results in 2022 on behalf of the company's management. Afterwards, Deng Renjie, Wang Xiufeng, Managing Director Xu Song, Deputy General Managers Vincent Lu and Robin Li jointly answered questions from reporters.
In response to the reporters’ concerns, Deng Renjie said that the weakening of global trade has brought a certain amount of pressure on the port business, but as the economy recovers, the growth rate of global container shipping volumes will tend to normalize. Through years of overseas development, CMPort has achieved fruitful results in internationalization and has made positive contributions to the sustainable development of the regional economy and the stable operation of the international supply chain. Looking forward to 2023, in the face of market uncertainty, CMPort will adhere to the general tone of "seeking progress while maintaining stability” and use the dual-wheel drive model of "endogenous growth" and "innovation & upgrade" to focus on improving homebase port expansion, innovation, operation optimization, layout expansion, business projection, risk prevention, and other capabilities, it will continue to promote comprehensive and high-quality development while embarking on a new journey.
Wang Xiufeng answered reporters’ questions about the company's layout strategy in the Pearl River Delta. He said: "The business proportion of CMPort's West Shenzhen Homebase Port within the entire Shenzhen port zone has increased year by year, and it has acquired significant shipping route advantages in recent years. On the one hand, the company is committed to building the West Shenzhen Homebase Port into a "world-class leading port"; on the other hand, it has a “East-West" layout of Zhanjiang Port and Shantou Port in the Pearl River Delta. With Western Shenzhen as the core of development, coupled with the layout of eastern and western Guangdong, we will promote the construction of inland terminals to better serve manufacturing enterprises.”
Many reporters were concerned about the foreign trade situation in 2023. Xu Song said that the company's container throughput declined year-on-year for January and February, but it mostly returned to normal levels in March, and laden cargoes in some port zones were even higher than the average level of last year. As for "empty cargoes piling up in ports”, the situation has been relieved after peaking in February. Looking forward to the whole year, under the influence of changes in the supply chain and high base numbers for the same period last year, it is expected that trade volumes will rebound in the second quarter and pick up in the third quarter.
Vincent Lu presented the company's capital expenditures to reporters. He said that the company's cash capital expenditure in 2022 was approximately HK$4.3 billion, which was mainly used to increase its holdings in SIPG and AAT. It is estimated that the cash capital expenditure in 2023 will be about HK$2 billion, mainly for construction of the third phase of the Shantou Guang'ao Port Zone, the renewal of the TCP in Brazil, and construction of the logistics park for Djibouti project.
Robin Li responded to questions about the company's innovation strategy. He said that CMPort is committed to creating a smart port solution with "China Merchants characteristics” and has built a comprehensive model for demonstration at Mawan Smart Port, creating a "smart port solution" with the three characteristics of technological leadership, commercial feasibility, and independent controllability". The company has been communicating with Hong Kong’s government departments as well as its industry and is willing to share relevant experience, jointly promote the construction of smart ports in Shenzhen and Hong Kong, and facilitate the development of Hong Kong ports.