China's CIMC swings to year-on-year Q4 loss

* Q4 loss 295 mln yuan vs 1.24 bln profit in Q4, 2007

* Sees negative hit from downturn continuing

* FY 2008 net down 56 pct to 1.41 bln yuan

* Hit by 700 mln provision for inventories

SHANGHAI, March 30 (Reuters) - China's CIMC (200039.SZ) (000039.SZ), the world's largest shipping container maker, posted on Monday a fourth-quarter loss of 295 million yuan ($43 million), joining a slew of Chinese listed companies which have reported poor earnings amid the global financial crisis.

The loss compared with a net profit of 1.24 billion yuan that China International Marine Containers (Group) Co (CIMC) recorded in the same quarter of 2007, as the company was forced to stop producing dry-cargo containers in the fourth quarter of last year due to slow demand during the global financial crisis.

"Looking forward to 2009, it is still hard to say that the economic shock brought about by the global financial will end," CIMC said in its 2008 earnings report filed to the Shenzhen Stock Exchange.

"Along with the recession of many global economies and the slowdown in China, our company's container business, which is closed related to the world's shipping and trade, will continue being affected negatively," it said without giving concrete forecasts.

For all 2008, CIMC reported a 56 percent dive in its net profit from 2007 to 1.41 billion yuan, citing also a large 700 million yuan provisions for its inventories.

It only sold 1.56 million TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) of standard dry-cargo containers in 2008, down 26 percent from 2007, with slow sales keeping its inventories still at high level at the end of 2008, the company said.

CIMC's Shenzhen-listed yuan-denominated A shares plunged 76 percent in 2008, underperforming the 65 percent drop in China's main stock index .SSEC in the year. They have jumped 35 percent so far this year, outperforming the market's 29 percent rise.

Over the weekend, several major Chinese companies, including Aluminum Corp of China (601600.SS)(2600.HK), Baoshan Iron & Steel Co (600019.SS) and China Construction Bank (601939.SS)(0939.HK), reported worse-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings.

(For stories, click [ID:nSHA78781][ID:nHKG4810][ID:nHKF080078]) ($1=6.83 Yuan) (Reporting by Lu Jianxin; editing by Simon Jessop)