Cosco Holdings

China Ocean Shipping Group Co (Cosco) announced a return to profit in 2014 after three years of losses, Reuters reports.

The state-backed shipping group reported a profit of 5.04bn yuan (US$809.26m) last year, group chairman Ma Zehua is reported to have said.

Cosco is now understood to be targeting annual profitability of between 4 and 5.5 per cent by 2020.

On Monday Cosco told Chinese media it had received a US$1.75bn loan from the Export-Import Bank of China to buy 53 new ships, including container ships. Cosco has scrapped 100 vessels over the last two years.