Hutchison Port Holdings Trust unit price flat as it reports a 19.7% decline for Q2 net profit
HPH Trust’s net profit for the second quarter fell by 19.7% to HK$136.5 million, from HK$170.0 million a year ago.
Units of Hutchison Port Holdings (HPH) Trust were flat as investors stand pat on the expected weak second quarter results affected by challenges from the global trade environment.
HPH Trust’s net profit for the second quarter fell by 19.7% to HK$136.5 million, from HK$170.0 million a year ago. Earnings per unit was at 1.57 Hong Kong cents, down from 1.95 Hong Kong cents a year ago.
Revenue fell by 1.4% to HK$2.74 billion, from HK$2.79 billion a year ago.
HPH Trust units were unchanged on Thursday morning, at US$0.225, following the trust's second quarter results release which was put out on the Singapore Exchange after the market closed on Wednesday.
Challenging external environment threatens recovery of global trade
In its results announcement, HPH Trust said that the external global environment continues to be challenging. The trade tensions between the United States (US) and China have heightened in recent months, with new tit-for-tat tariffs imposed in the second quarter of 2019, it said.
‘Trade protectionism, macro-economic and political uncertainties, including the slowing Chinese and European Union (EU) economies and the yet-to-be-resolved Brexit from the EU, threaten the recovery of global trade,’ HPH Trust added.
HPH Trust said the outbound cargoes to the US remained weak in the second quarter of 2019 and it is expected to be volatile in the second half of 2019 as the US-China trade dispute continues.
Given the uncertainties in the global trade outlook, the manager of HPH Trust said that they remain cautious about future cargo trends and will continue to adhere to cost discipline and efficiency improvements in order to face the challenges ahead.
US-China trade negotiations expected to continue to impact HPH Trust
Experts have previously cautioned on the impact of the US-China trade war on the container port business.
‘Despite a decent prospective yield of 7.4% on offer, we remain neutral on HPH Trust as it remains vulnerable to the on-going trade dispute between the US and China as its key port assets in Shenzhen and Hong Kong are heavily exposed to China’s export sector,’ DBS Bank had said in an April report.
The information on this page does not contain a record of our trading prices, or an offer of, or solicitation for, a transaction in any financial instrument. IG Bank S.A. accepts no responsibility for any use that may be made of these comments and for any consequences that result. No representation or warranty is given as to the accuracy or completeness of this information. Consequently any person acting on it does so entirely at their own risk. Any research provided does not have regard to the specific investment objectives, financial situation and needs of any specific person who may receive it and as such is considered to be a marketing communication. Although we are not specifically constrained from dealing ahead of our recommendations we do not seek to take advantage of them before they are provided to our clients. See full non-independent research disclaimer.
Act on share opportunities today
Go long or short on thousands of international stocks with CFDs.
- Get full exposure for a comparatively small deposit
- Trade on spreads from just 0.1%
- Get greater order book visibility with direct market access
See opportunity on a stock?
Try a risk-free trade in your demo account, and see whether you’re on to something.
- Log in to your demo
- Take your position
- See whether your hunch pays off
See opportunity on a stock?
Don’t miss your chance – upgrade to a live account to take advantage.
- Trade a huge range of popular stocks
- Analyse and deal seamlessly on fast, intuitive charts
- See and react to breaking news in-platform
See opportunity on a stock?
Don’t miss your chance. Log in to take your position.
Live prices on most popular markets
- Forex
- Shares
- Indices
Prices above are subject to our website terms and agreements. Prices are indicative only. All shares prices are delayed by at least 15 mins.