Container shipper Yang Ming Marine Transport Corp (陽明海運) is to raise year-end bonuses for its employees to 12 months of wages on average and is to raise salaries by about 4 percent, after a bumper year that saw a significant rise in shipping rates and profit, the firm said.
Yang Ming’s board of directors on Friday approved the bonus and pay raise plans, two weeks after larger rival Evergreen Marine Corp (長榮海運) reportedly paid bonuses of as much as 40 months of salary to its employees.
Shippers’ profits last year received a boost from surging freight rates amid strong global demand and port congestion due in part to COVID-19 curbs.
Photo courtesy of Yang Ming Marine Transport Corp via EPA-EFE
Evergreen reported NT$158.28 billion (US$5.73 billion) in net profit in the first nine months of last year, up 1,347.32 percent from a year earlier, or earnings per share of NT$30.27.
Yang Ming reported NT$109.8 billion in net profit in the same period, up 5,839 percent from a year earlier, or earnings per share of NT$32.73.
For the whole of last year, Evergreen registered NT$489.40 billion in revenue, up 136.1 percent from a year earlier, while Yang Ming posted NT$334.48 billion in revenue, up 120.22 percent.
In addition to performance-based year-end bonuses, Yang Ming annually issues fixed year-end bonuses of one month of the respective employee’s salary.
This year, its employees would receive 13 months of wages as year-end bonuses ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday, which is to start on Saturday next week.
Local media reported that Yang Ming might issue extra bonuses for the Dragon Boat and Mid-Autumn festivals, with bonuses this year totaling up to 30 months of salary.
To meet robust global demand for container cargo shipping services, Yang Ming is building five new mega vessels, each with a capacity to carry 15,000 20-foot equivalent units of cargo.
The company said it spent NT$10 billion in capital expenditure last year.
As it is adding new ships, Yang Ming’s spending for this year could double, the shipper said.
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