Ports investor China Merchants Holdings (International) saw its net profit rise 10 percent last year amid an increase in port-handling volume and a series of overseas acquisitions that have started to add to earnings.
The company's net profit increased to US$541 million from $492.43 million a year earlier but revenue plunged 30 percent to $1 billion from $1.42 billion, reported The Wall Street Journal.
The results come after rival Cosco Pacific said its net more than doubled to $702.7 million last year, partly because of a one-time gain from a stake sale.
China Merchants vice chairman Li Jianhong said the company, a unit of conglomerate China Merchants Group, will continue to look for opportunities to buy stakes in ports in developing markets such as Southeast Asia, South Asia and Africa.
The ports investor, listed in Hong Kong, posted a 19 percent rise in total container-handling volume for last year, mainly driven by gains from overseas projects.
"We expect to continue to record a double-digit growth rate in container port-handling volume in 2014, though the exact growth rate may not be as high as it was last year," Li said.
The country's biggest port operator by container-shipping volume has been stepping up investment in recent years to boost its port portfolio in China and abroad. In 2013, for example, the company spent $701 million on two acquisitions that expanded China Merchants' presence in ports as far-flung as the US to Morocco.
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