BEIJING, May 13, 2011 /PRNewswire-Asia/ -- Sino-Global
Shipping America, Ltd. (Nasdaq: SINO), a leading,
non-state-owned provider of shipping agency services operating
primarily in China, today
announced its selected unaudited financial results for fiscal
quarter and nine months ended March 31,
2011.
Highlights for the Nine Months and Third Quarter of Fiscal
2011
- Revenues for the nine months ended March
31, 2011 increased 39.3% to US$26.3
million, from US$18.9 million
in the nine months ended March 31,
2010.
- Revenues for the third quarter ended March 31, 2011 rose 50.6% to US$9.1 million from US$6.0
million in the third quarter ended March 31, 2010.
- Gross margin decreased to 9.8% in the current third quarter
compared to 13.6% in the third quarter of 2010.
- General and administrative expenses as a percentage of total
revenues decreased to 11.6% from 16.6% in the third quarter of
2010.
- Net loss for the nine months ended March
31, 2011 was US$720 thousand
compared to net loss of US$673
thousand in the first nine months of fiscal 2010.
- Net loss for the quarter ended March 31,
2011 was US$254 thousand
compared to a net loss of US$268
thousand for the same period in fiscal 2010.
- Basic and diluted losses per share were US$0.05 and US$0.14
for the quarter and nine months of fiscal 2011, respectively,
compared to basic and diluted loss per share of US$0.01 and earnings per share of US$0.01, respectively for the quarter and nine
months of fiscal 2010. Earnings and losses per share are
adjusted for the non-controlling interest.
"Sino-Global continued to see fast revenue growth for agency
services from both existing strong demand in China for imported iron ore as well as the
revenues generated from expanding our shipping agency services for
vessels uploading at a port in Australia since 2009. Our strategy of
expanding overseas shipping services has been successful. One
of China's largest steel
manufacturers, Baosteel, has added Sino Global to its list of
service providers and we are now providing uploading services for
its vessels which carry iron ore and coal from Canada and Australia to China. In the nine months ended
March 31, 2011, our Australia agency revenues accounted for 14.5%
of our total revenues. We anticipate that we will provide
additional agency services for Baosteel vessels at the ports in
South Africa and Brazil, shortly," stated Mr. Cao Lei, Sino-Global's Chief Executive
Officer.
"The revaluation of the Chinese Renminbi ("RMB") against the
U.S. dollar continues to hurt our results and we anticipate a
further 5% -7% devaluation of the U.S. dollar in 2011," stated Mr.
Zhang Mingwei, Sino-Global's Chief Financial Officer. "We have been
able to offset some of the devaluation by successfully negotiating
for about a 5% increase in agency service fees with our largest
customer, Beijing Shourong Forwarding Limited, and, therefore, have
partially mitigated its impact on our gross margin by about 3%. In
addition, we expect that we could further mitigate the negative
impact from the devaluation of the U.S. dollar by generating more
agency service revenues from our overseas operation that are
recorded in the currencies other than RMB."
Mr. Cao concluded, "We will continue to seek new business
opportunities in diverse geographic locations and build upon our
existing agency relationships to add additional PRC ports to our
growing list of ports that we service. In line with our
overseas strategy, we are expanding our footprint overseas and have
established our credibility thru our PRC activities. In particular,
we see tremendous opportunities in providing our agency service
activities to vessels loading various commodities at ports overseas
for delivery into China. We
anticipate that our existing activities as well as the incremental
revenues that we expect to generate from our overseas agency
services will result in strong revenue growth in fiscal 2011 and
beyond."
Selected Financial Results for the Third Quarter of 2011
Revenues
Total revenues were US$9.1 million
in the third quarter of 2011, an increase of 50.6% from
US$6.0 million in the 2010 period.
The number of ships that Sino-Global served increased 40.1% to 125
in the third quarter of 2011, from 88 in the year-ago period.
Cost of Revenues
Cost of revenues was US$8.2
million in the third quarter of 2011, an increase of 57.1%
from US$5.2 million in the year-ago
period.
Cost of revenues as a percentage of total revenues for the third
quarter of 2011 increased to 90.1% from 86.4% in the year-ago
period. Costs of revenues increased faster than revenues,
resulting in the decrease of gross margins from 13.6% down to 9.9%
for the comparative three months ended March
31, 2010 and 2011, respectively. The erosion in gross
margins was by significantly higher port charges for larger
vessels. Additionally, the foreign exchange rate of Chinese
currency against the U.S. dollar increased during the period. The
average foreign exchange rate for U.S. dollars against the Chinese
RMB devalued approximately 3.6% in the third quarter of fiscal 2011
compared to the third quarter of fiscal 2010. As a result, expenses
payable in RMB absorbed a greater percentage of revenues in U.S.
dollars.
Operating Expenses
General and administrative expenses were US$1.05 million in the third quarter of 2011, an
increase of 4.9% from US$1.00 million
in the year-ago period. General and administrative expenses as a
percentage of total revenues decreased to 11.6% in the third
quarter of 2011 from 16.6% in the year-ago period.
Selling expenses were US$156
thousand in the third quarter of 2011, an increase of 306%
from US$38 thousand in the year-ago
period.
Operating Loss
Operating loss was US$310 thousand
in the third quarter of 2011 compared to an operating loss of
US$136 thousand in the year-ago
period. The operating loss for the third quarter of fiscal 2011 was
primarily due to the increase in costs of revenues and in general
and administrative expenses.
Financial income was US$28
thousand in the third quarter of 2011, compared to financial
income of US$8 thousand in the
year-ago period. The net financial income comes largely from
interest income from money deposits in banks and by the foreign
exchange losses recognized in the financial statement
consolidation.
Income tax benefits were US$35
thousand in the third quarter of 2011, compared to income
tax expenses of US$121 thousand in
the year-ago period.
Net loss was US$254 thousand in
the third quarter of 2011, compared to net loss of US$268 thousand in the year-ago period. Net loss
attributable to Sino-Global Shipping America Ltd. was US$153 thousand in the third quarter of 2011,
compared to net loss of US$23
thousand in the year-ago period.
Basic and diluted loss per share in the third quarter of 2011
was US$0.05, compared to basic and
diluted loss per share of US$0.01 in
the year-ago period.
Other Selected Data
As of March 31, 2011, the Company
had US$5.3 million in cash and cash
equivalents, compared to US$5.1
million in the year-ago period.
About Sino-Global Shipping America, Ltd.
Registered in the United States
in 2001 and operating primarily in mainland China, Sino-Global is a leading,
non-state-owned provider of high-quality shipping agency services.
With local branches in most of China's main ports and contractual
arrangements in all those where it does not have branch offices,
Sino-Global is able to offer efficient, high-quality shipping
agency services to shipping companies entering Chinese ports. With
a subsidiary in Perth, Australia,
where it has a contractual relationship with a local shipping
agency, Sino-Global provides complete shipping agent services to
companies involved in trades between Chinese and Australian ports.
Sino-Global also operates a subsidiary in Hong Kong, China, to provide comprehensive
shipping agent services to vessels going to and from one of the
world's busiest ports.
Sino-Global provides ship owners, operators and charters with
comprehensive yet customized shipping agency services including
intelligence, planning, real-time analysis and on-the-ground
implementation and logistics support. Sino-Global has achieved both
ISO9001 and UKAS certifications.
Forward Looking Statements
No statement made in this press release should be interpreted as
an offer to purchase any security. Such an offer can only be made
in accordance with the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and
applicable state securities laws. Any statements contained in this
release that relate to future plans, events or performance are
forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties as
identified in Sino-Global's filings with the Securities and
Exchange Commission. Actual results, events or performance may
differ materially. Readers are cautioned not to place undue
reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as
the date hereof. Sino-Global undertakes no obligation to publicly
release the results of any revisions to these forward-looking
statements that may be made to reflect the events or circumstances
after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated
events.
For More Information
For a more detailed review of Sino-Global's financial results
for the third quarter and six months ended March 31, 2011, please refer to the company's
Security and Exchange Commission Form 10Q filing or Sino-Global's
web site: www.sino-global.com.
CONTACTS:
|
|
|
|
|
|
Ms. Apple Liang
|
Stephen D. Axelrod,
CFA
|
|
Sino-Global,
Beijing.
|
Wolfe Axelrod Weinberger
Assoc. LLC
|
|
+86-10-6439-1888
|
Tel. (212) 370-4500 Fax (212)
370-4505
|
|
|
|
SOURCE Sino-Global Shipping America, Ltd.