Evergreen Marine posts improved results for the year 2000

Evergreen Marine Corporation (Taiwan) Ltd has announced that its consolidated operating revenue in 2000 was NT$60.5 billion (US$1.9 billion), an increase of 15% compared to 1999's figure of NT$52.7 billion (US$1.7 billion).

However, the company has warned that container volumes were weaker at the beginning of 2001 although to what extent this was due to an early Chinese New Year remains to be seen. Similarly, there are some concerns regarding the slowdown in the US economy but Evergreen expects that its impact will be limited; the company does not anticipate a decline in volume, rather a reduction in growth.

At NT$1.26 billion (US$40.1 million), EMC's net profit after tax in 2000 was up 39% on last year's NT$933 million (US$28.9 million). The company attributes this to the continuation of strict controls and new practices which saw operating costs reduced.


(It should be noted that the above figures relate only to EMC (Taiwan) Ltd and its Panamanian subsidiary Greencompass Marine SA (GMS). It does not include other shipping interests of the Evergreen Group.)

While EMC (Taiwan)'s main income is from its container shipping activities, there is also income from its investments in other Evergreen Group companies such as EVA Airways Corporation, Evergreen Transportation Corporation and Peony Investment SA.

Looking forward to 2001, the company states that it will introduce larger and faster ships to reinforce its competitiveness. The first of these will be delivered later in 2001 as part of a longer term re-tonnaging programme. New schedules are being devised to attract higher rated cargoes and slot exchange relationships are being developed with other carriers to achieve improved sailing frequencies and greater port coverage without there being a negative impact on transit times.

Evergreen expects to further develop its business in China and is working on ways of improving the efficiency of its container logistics including empty re-positioning and trucking, both major cost elements in any shipping line's overall operations.

On the IT front, Evergreen is improving its links with major customers and has recently launched an updated website with new features which should aid efficiency. In particular, the line is looking to provide all customers worldwide with swifter and easier direct access to information.

As at 1 April, 2001, the Evergreen Group owned 130 container vessels aggregating 353,186TEU of which 47 vessels aggregating 161,480TEU were owned by Evergreen Marine Corporation (Taiwan) and its subsidiary GMS.