Retracing key management failures at China’s flagship shipping companies

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Fantastic long read from one of liner shipping’s premier analysts, Charles de Trenck, on the nightmare for investors who have bought shares in China Shipping or Cosco – or worse, both…

“CSCL, even though it ripped off investors initially, actually moulded itself into a better company over time, even though ultimately it likely would have faced tremendous difficulties without state subsidies. Cosco was the opposite in some ways. Its core container business was and is an operationally viable operation. But the corporate structure on top, led by people like Wei Jiafu, was a financial drain on operations. It made all the wrong calls on asset timing.”

Mr de Trenck worked for a number of banks in Hong Kong while Cosco was preparing its various subsidiaries for stock market listings, and there are few who understand the troubled balance sheets of Chinese shipping companies better than he.