Shanghai International Port (Group), the largest port operator in China, booked a net profit of US$150.9m in the fourth quarter of 2009, up 48 per cent from a year earlier, China Knowledge Press reported. SIPG realised a net profit of US$550.7m last year, down 18.6 per cent year-on-year, with turnover falling 8.79 per cent to US$2.4bn.

The company said that its outlook for this year is likely to be better than that of last year because of the improved prospects for global trade. However, it recognised that the recoveries of the US and EU economies are still unstable.

Fu Yuning, president of China Merchants Group, said that statistics from the Ministry of Transport show China’s major ports handled 121m TEU of containers in 2009, down 6 per cent year-on-year. However, he said that the outlook is improving, and he expects throughput could rise to 125m TEU this year.