[030812.EN.SEA] Box Lessor CAI International Quarterly Profit Up 39pc to US$15 Million

CONTAINER lessor CAI International has posted a 39 per cent increase in second quarter net profit to US$15.1 million year on year, drawn on revenues of $39.7 million, up 38 per cent.

"We continue to be optimistic about the outlook for container demand for the remainder of 2012 and for container demand in 2013 which we are viewing as a global economic recovery year," said CEO Victor Garcia.

"With the high overall level of utilisation of equipment we see continued good pricing on secondary sale of containers. Demand for used containers remains strong and we have increased prices in some of our higher demand locations," he said.

The company said strong results were driven by a focus on investments in the company's owned container fleet, the continuation of robust industry-wide equipment utilisation rates and a strong resale market.

Total operating expenses in the second quarter amounted to $15.3 million, up 29.8 per cent year-on-year mainly due to 49 per cent growth in depreciation expense.

In the first half of the year the company invested over $350 million in equipment of which $310 million has been on marine containers, with the overall investment in containers in 2012 expected to be above the record amount invested last year.

During the second quarter CAI's container fleet reached one million TEU. Over the past 12 months the company' s container fleet on a TEU basis has grown 14 per cent, with its owned fleet growing 35 per cent to comprise 56 per cent of its total fleet of containers.

Container rental revenue amounted to $35.1 million in the second quarter, up from $24.7 million for the second quarter of 2011. The growth in rental revenue was driven by a 42 per cent increase in the average number of TEU of owned containers on lease compared to the same quarter a year earlier.

During the second quarter the company leased out 45,000 TEU of containers. These units are primarily on multi-year, long-term leases across many of the largest shipping lines. Overall fleet utilisation during the second quarter was 95 per cent with utilisation of its own containers at 98 per cent, and 88 per cent of its containers on long-term leases.

The company also purchased two managed fleet portfolios totalling 22,000 TEU for a purchase price of US$27 million, which helped generate earnings during the second quarter.

The company ended the second quarter with $750 million in borrowings and about $240 million has been available under our various lines of credit.

Source : HKSG.