COSCO Shipping Holdings Co., Ltd. released its 2025 annual report on March 19. 

Amid numerous challenges in 2025, COSCO Shipping Holdings maintained strategic focus, optimizing resource allocation and making targeted moves into new business segments. The company also strengthened its risk management capabilities, delivering stable performance despite external uncertainties.

In 2025, the company reported operating revenue of $30.49 billion, earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) of $6.25 billion, net profit of $4.89 billion, and net profit attributable to shareholders of $4.29 billion. Despite weaker freight rates and a market downturn in the fourth quarter, the company still achieved quarterly net profit attributable to shareholders of $0.53 billion, maintaining overall profitability.

The company’s core businesses demonstrated strong resilience. During the reporting period, its container shipping segment handled 27.4345 million TEUs, up 5.76% year over year, generating revenue of $29.27 billion with a gross margin of 19.44%. The terminal business recorded total throughput of 153 million TEUs, an increase of 6.22%, including 33.2469 million TEUs handled by controlled terminals, up 1.81% year over year. The segment generated revenue of $1.67 billion, with a gross margin of 25.91%.

The company’s financial position remained solid. As of the end of 2025, its asset-liability ratio declined further to 41.42%, down approximately 1.28 percentage points from the end of the previous year. Cash and cash equivalents totaled $20.96 billion. During the reporting period, investment income and net financial income reached $1.10 billion.

Shareholder returns were implemented in an orderly manner. COSCO Shipping Holdings continued to execute its 2025–2027 dividend policy, with the board announcing a final cash dividend of $0.06 per share (tax included) for 2025. Together with the interim dividend already distributed, the total annual payout is expected to account for approximately 50% of net profit attributable to shareholders.

The company also continued its share buyback program in 2025. In recent years, it has completed four rounds of buybacks, repurchasing and canceling a total of 866 million A- and H-shares, with a cumulative value exceeding $1.36 billion, effectively safeguarding shareholder interests.

COSCO Shipping Holdings has continued to pursue large-scale and globalized development, operating a self-managed container fleet of 590 vessels with a total capacity of approximately 3.6 million TEUs. Including owned and long-term chartered vessels, the company accounts for about 75% of its total capacity, firmly placing it among the industry’s top tier.

During the reporting period, leveraging the regional influence of Yangpu Port, the company expanded shipping routes and upgraded services, driving rapid growth in trade flows between China and Southeast Asia, as well as between Southeast Asia and Europe and the United States.

The port of Chancay in Peru, in which the company has invested, has seen increasingly mature operations and has established a “three trunk, four branch” network structure, accelerating the development of a new Asia–Latin America land-sea corridor.

In 2025, COSCO Shipping Holdings recorded year-over-year cargo volume growth of 6.07% on Asia-Europe routes, 12.05% in mainland China domestic trades, and 7.83% on other international routes, including Africa and Latin America, effectively offsetting uncertainties caused by fluctuations in trade policies.

On fleet optimization, the company has ordered 42 methanol dual-fuel vessels and 12 LNG dual-fuel vessels, while also retrofitting several existing ships for methanol dual-fuel capability. The COSCO Shipping Yangpu completed its first bunkering of domestically produced green methanol at Yangpu Port, establishing a green supply chain from shipbuilding to fuel provision.

Green port development has progressed in parallel, with several of the company’s terminals receiving green port certification. Terminals including Xiamen Ocean Gate, Guangzhou Nansha Port, and the Port of Piraeus in Greece are now capable of providing ship-to-ship biofuel bunkering services, while Nantong Tonghai Terminal has introduced LNG tank replacement and refueling services.

Looking ahead to 2026, the complexity and uncertainty of the container shipping market are expected to intensify further. On one hand, uncertainty in international trade policies and ongoing tensions in the Middle East are increasing volatility across global supply chains, accelerating the shift in global trade toward regionalization, diversification, and nearshoring.

On the other hand, cargo owners are placing significantly higher demands on supply chain stability and end-to-end visibility and control, raising expectations for carriers’ global network capabilities and integrated service offerings. At the same time, the deeper application of digitalization and artificial intelligence is expected to become a key driver for transformation and upgrading in the shipping and logistics industry, shaping future competitive advantages.