China COSCO back in black in Q2 on trade recovery

HONG KONG Aug 25 (Reuters) - China COSCO Holdings (1919.HK), flagship of the country's premier shipping firm, said on Wednesday it returned to the black in the second quarter as the global shipping market rebounded from record losses in 2009.

China COSCO (601919.SS), which operates the world's largest bulk cargo fleet and is the No. 7 container shipping firm globally, reported a profit of 2.64 billion yuan for April-June, based on Chinese accounting standards.

The results were in line with the average forecast of 2.61 billion yuan from four analysts polled by Reuters.

It reversed a restated net loss of 1.3 billion yuan in the second quarter of 2009 on a better-than-expected recovery in container ship profits and solid gains from its bulk cargo shipping business, based on Chinese accounting standards.

China COSCO made a profit of 3.53 billion yuan for the first six months versus restated net loss of 4.65 billion yuan a year ago. (Reporting by Alison Leung; Editing by Will Waterman)