The Straits Times / The Business Times News on Cosco

Cosco director takes stake in company

MAINBOARD-LISTED Cosco Corporation director Lee Fook Choy yesterday bought 1.237 million shares of the company at $2.325 each on the open market.

The purchase gives him a 0.113 per cent stake in the company. He did not own any Cosco shares previously.

Mr Lee is a director of Cosco subsidiary Cosco Marine Engineering (Singapore) Pte Ltd.

The purchase comes on the back of good results posted by Cosco for the first half of the year. Earlier this month, the company reported that it had more than doubled its second quarter and first half net profits.

Q2 net profit soared 108 per cent year-on-year to a record $39.4 million, while H1 earnings jumped 115 per cent to $65.2 million.

Revenue growth was also impressive. The company saw a 665 per cent surge in revenue to a record $210.7 million in Q2. Similarly, first-half revenue leaped 619 per cent to $375.3 million.

Cosco expects the growth momentum to continue for the rest of FY2005, with turnover and net profit in FY2005 'substantially exceeding' last year's.

Shares of Cosco Corporation closed unchanged at $2.46 yesterday.