SITC International Holdings Company | Asia Pacific: 1H26: Healthy Profit Growth amid Global Geopolitical Disruptions; Div Beat

Research evidence excerpt

Not for redistribution without written consent of Morgan Stanley

M

Update

August 19, 2026 05:01 AM GMT

SITC International Holdings Company | Asia Pacific

Morgan Stanley Asia Limited+

Qianlei Fan, CFA

Equity Analyst

1H26: Healthy Profit Growth

amid Global Geopolitical

Disruptions; Div Beat

AlphaSignals Earnings Reaction

Evan Chen

Research Associate

SITC International Holdings Company (1308.HK, 1308

Unchanged

In-line

Largely unchanged

HK)

Impact to our thesis

Financial results versus consensus

Direction of next 12-month

consensus EPS

Hong Kong/China Transportation & Infrastructure | China

Source: Company data, Morgan Stanley Research

Key Takeaways

1H26 profit growth is encouraging, thanks mainly to strong intra-Asia trade

demand. Dividend payout ratio higher than expected.

Stock Rating

Industry View

Price target

Shr price, close (Aug 18, 2026)

52-Week Range

Sh out, dil, curr (mn)

Mkt cap, curr (mn)

EV, curr (mn)

Avg daily trading value (mn)

Equal-weight

In-Line

HK$34.10

HK$43.58

HK$44.16-25.45

2,700

US$14,995

US$14,176

HK$150

Sustained high fuel prices and global capacity disruptions from the Middle East

are positive for SITC, we believe.

Near term outlook remains constructive in our view.

Major uncertainty is related to the global container shipping cycle - Red Sea

rerouting normalization remains the overhang.

Solid profit growth this year will increase the probability of a special dividend in

4Q26, we think.

SITC reported 1H26 net profit attributable to shareholders of US$676.5mn, up 7%

YoY, and representing 56% of our 2026 full-year estimate of US$1,206mn and 55%

of market consensus of US$1,234mn.

Revenue increased 11% YoY to US$1,842mn, tracking 49% of our 2026 full-year

estimate of US$3,794mn.

Container volume reached 1.97m TEUs in 1H26, up 7.8% YoY (2Q26: +7.9% YoY). The

implied average freight rate changed 11% YoY and 9.5% QoQ to US$839/TEU in

2Q26.

In 1H26, GP rose 10% YoY to US$733mn, and GP margin was 39.8% (1H25: 40.2%);

Operating profit increased 7% YoY to US$682mn with OP margin of 37%, vs. 38.3%

in 1H25.

Dividends: Interim DPS was HK150 cents (US$19 cents), representing a 77% payout

(full year Mse 70%).

…