(Yicai Global) Oct. 31 -- Chinese maritime giant Cosco Shipping Holdings has announced plans to invest CNY19.7 billion (USD2.7 billion) to raise its stake in two major Chinese ports and USD2.9 billion to acquire new vessels.

Cosco Shipping will spend CNY18.9 billion to hike its holding in Shanghai International Port Group to 15.55 percent from 0.62 percent and CNY779 million (USD107 million) to buy 3.24 percent of Guangzhou Port to increase its stake to 6.5 percent, the Beijing-based company said on Oct. 28. The seller is Cosco Shipping Group, its parent company.

Shanghai International Port is a leading Chinese ports operator that runs the Port of Shanghai, the world’s largest by container throughput. Guangzhou Port is one of the biggest comprehensive hubs and container trunk ports in southern China, with cargo and container throughput ranking top globally.

The acquisitions will help deepen Cosco Shipping’s strategic partnership with the two port operators and promote their participation in the development of digital shipping infrastructure, Cosco Shipping noted.

Hamburg Port Stake

The move comes soon after Cosco Shipping Group secured the German government’s approval on Oct. 26 for its plan to take a stake in the company that runs the Port of Hamburg, the European country’s largest.

In a bid to strengthen the company’s leading position in the shipping industry, Cosco Shipping Holdings also announced on Oct. 28 that several of its units have ordered 12 methanol dual-fuel-powered container vessels with a capacity of 24,000 TEUs for about USD239.9 million each, with delivery scheduled for the third quarter of 2026 to the third quarter of 2028.

Two joint ventures between Japan’s Kawasaki Heavy Industries and Cosco Shipping Group in the Chinese cities of Nantong and Dalian will build the vessels, so the deal was a related-party transaction, the firm added.

Shares

News of the stake increases and fleet expansion failed to boost the shares of the three parties today, partly because the earnings report Cosco Shipping Holdings released on Oct. 28 showed growth slowing in third quarter.Earnings continued to grow thanks to a more than two-year global shipping boom, enabling its spending spree, but at a slower pace.

Shares of Cosco Shipping Holdings [SHA: 601919] closed 0.2 percent lower at CNY11.23 (USD1.54) each. Shanghai International Port [SHA: 600018] rose 0.4 percent to CNY5.17 (71 US cents), while Guangzhou Port [SHA: 601228] ended down 2 percent at CNY3.02. The broader Shanghai market fell 0.7 percent.

Third-quarter net profit at Cosco Shipping Holdings rose 6.4 percent from a year earlier to CNY32.5 billion on a 15 percent gain in revenue to CNY105.8 billion (USD14.6 billion), according to its financial report. In the nine months ended Sept. 30, revenue and net profit climbed 37 percent and 44 percent from a year ago, slowing from 51 percent and 74 percent in the first half.

Revenue from the firm’s container lines totaled CNY297.7 billion in the third quarter, an increase of over 38 percent, while that from international lines soared 48 percent to USD2,876 per twenty-foot equivalent unit.

Editor: Futura Costaglione