China Merchants Energy Shipping (CMES) has reported net profit attributable to shareholders of RMB11.983 billion (approximately US$1.80 billion) for the first nine months of 2026, up 263.15% year on year and exceeding its combined earnings for the previous two full years. Strong tanker returns, higher profits across its other shipping businesses and substantial fourth-quarter freight commitments give the Shanghai-listed company a strong operating record as it approaches the 20th anniversary of its A-share listing.

CMES listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange on 1 December 2006 and will mark that anniversary on 1 December 2026. Over those two decades, it has developed from a company centred on tanker and dry bulk shipping into a broader operator spanning crude oil, LNG, dry bulk, vehicle and container transportation. Its latest results show how that business has responded to a period of exceptional change in global shipping.

Nine months surpass two full years of earnings

CMES earned attributable net profit of RMB5.107 billion (approximately US$766 million) in 2024 and RMB6.012 billion (US$901 million) in 2025. Its nine-month 2026 result exceeded the combined total of those two years by approximately 7.77%.

Revenue reached RMB32.422 billion (US$4.86 billion), an increase of 67.90%, while attributable profit excluding non-recurring items rose 293.18% to RMB11.406 billion (US$1.71 billion). The growth therefore extended well into the earnings generated by the company’s operating businesses.

The quarterly progression was also pronounced. Attributable profit increased from RMB2.763 billion (US$414 million) in the first quarter to RMB4.196 billion (US$629 million) in the second and RMB5.024 billion (US$753 million) in the third. Third-quarter profit rose 327.45% year on year and approximately 19.73% from the preceding quarter, bringing three months of earnings close to the company’s full-year 2024 result.

Operating cash flow strengthened alongside profits. Net cash generated from operating activities reached RMB13.689 billion (US$2.05 billion), up 135.87% and already above the RMB9.055 billion (US$1.36 billion) recorded for all of 2025. That cash generation supports fleet renewal, day-to-day operations and the development of new business.

Turning tanker strength into operating results

Tankers were the largest driver of the earnings increase. The division generated revenue of RMB15.139 billion (US$2.27 billion), up 124.81%, and segment net profit of RMB9.934 billion (US$1.49 billion), an increase of 425.61%.

The market supporting those returns has demanded considerable operational flexibility. Disruption around the Strait of Hormuz, expanding ship-to-ship transfers in the Gulf of Oman, Red Sea diversions and Asian purchases of alternative Atlantic Basin crude have changed both trade routes and vessel deployment. Recovering oil flows have involved additional transfers, waiting time and longer voyages, increasing the vessel time required to complete each shipment.

Research from Kpler and other market specialists has identified transfer capacity, security conditions and the availability of suitable ships as important factors supporting freight rates. For shipowners, commercial performance has depended on where vessels are positioned, which cargoes they can access and how efficiently they can complete their employment.

CMES said in its third-quarter report that it deployed most of its tanker capacity outside the Strait of Hormuz as transshipment activity increased. It also pursued cargoes in both eastern and western markets while expanding its customer base. This approach linked voyage planning and risk management with a wider range of commercial opportunities.

The company’s operating record predates the latest freight surge. Its 2025 annual report said its VLCC fleet’s achieved time-charter-equivalent earnings again outperformed market benchmarks. Relationships with major oil companies, traders and refiners, together with a global route network, have provided the commercial reach needed to respond as oil trade patterns change.

Freight commitments carry momentum into Q4

CMES’s forward employment provides an important link between the freight market and subsequent operating results. By the reporting date, the tanker fleet had secured employment for approximately two-thirds of its fourth-quarter operating days, together with some operating days in 2027. The company said the rates secured were substantially higher than those actually achieved during January–September.

The timing of voyage employment helps explain the significance. CMES stated that its third-quarter spot-market TCE mainly reflected cargoes fixed between May and August. Much of the subsequent freight rally therefore came after the fixing period underlying those reported earnings.

Calculations using Baltic Exchange daily composite VLCC TCE data put the August average at approximately US$271,600 per day, rising to US$579,300 in September and US$838,600 in October through the 28th. The acceleration in assessed market returns created stronger conditions for subsequent fixtures.

Securing a substantial share of available operating days at higher rates gives CMES greater visibility over its employment. Converting those fixtures into earnings then depends on deployment, safe voyage execution and settlement. Its disclosed commitments provide a firmer commercial basis for the next reporting period and extend part of its employment planning into 2027.

Growth across the wider fleet

Other businesses also contributed to the nine-month improvement. Dry bulk shipping generated segment net profit of RMB1.841 billion (US$276 million), up 157.84%, while container shipping earned RMB1.556 billion (US$233 million), an increase of 50.05%.

Vehicle and ro-ro shipping profit rose 254.79% to RMB518 million (US$77.7 million), and LNG shipping profit increased 5.37% to RMB589 million (US$88.3 million). The dry bulk, container and ro-ro divisions had each surpassed their respective full-year 2025 profit totals within nine months.

The operating drivers differed across the businesses. Dry bulk benefited from cargo development, long-term customer relationships and flexible vessel employment. Container shipping expanded through its service network, volumes and higher-value cargoes. Ro-ro operations continued to develop international routes and vehicle-export business, while LNG shipping progressed through long-term projects.

CMES also obtained control of Antong Holdings on 28 August, bringing the business into its consolidated accounts and adding scope for the further development of its container operations.

The contribution from different fleets has varied across market cycles. Their combination allows CMES to serve a broader range of cargoes and customers while sharing experience and resources in financing, crewing, vessel management and global operations.

Long-term cargo commitments and fleet investment

CMES is also building business beyond the current freight cycle. In a disclosure dated 30 September, the company said its wholly owned subsidiary Hong Kong Ming Wah Shipping had signed a 25-year transportation agreement covering six very large ore carriers for the Simandou iron ore project in Guinea. The estimated total contract value is at least US$2.8 billion.

As previously covered by Xinde Marine News, the relationship developed from actual cargo transportation into planning for a longer-term shipping arrangement. The agreement connects a major new mineral export project with CMES’s experience in large ore carriers and establishes a commercial basis for services extending over many years. xindemarinenews.com.cn

Fleet investment is progressing alongside cargo development. During the first half of 2026, CMES took delivery of ten ships: two Aframax tankers, five LNG carriers, two Kamsarmax bulkers and one heavy-lift multipurpose vessel. It also signed orders for 22 ships, comprising ten VLCCs and 12 containerships. Its fleet table at the end of September listed 245 owned vessels with aggregate capacity of approximately 39.62 million dwt.

Fuel flexibility and operating technology are part of that renewal. Delivered in December 2025, New Explorer was the world’s first methanol dual-fuel VLCC. Built by Dalian Shipbuilding for CMES, it can switch between conventional fuel oil and methanol. The vessel provides a platform for developing alternative-fuel operating experience and gives the company another option as customers’ requirements and shipping regulations develop.

An anniversary supported by operating progress

CMES’s original listing documents identified tanker and dry bulk transportation as its principal businesses. Its subsequent expansion has brought additional cargo sectors, customer relationships and operating capabilities into the group, broadening its participation in global maritime trade.

The latest results show several of those capabilities working together. Tanker operations have responded to changing oil flows; other fleets have increased their earnings; operating cash flow supports continued investment; and long-term cargo agreements provide a basis for future vessel employment.

As CMES approaches its 20th listing anniversary, it does so with nearly US$1.8 billion in nine-month attributable profit, a substantial book of fourth-quarter tanker employment and transportation commitments extending far beyond the current reporting year. Those developments connect its present earnings with the practical demands of building and operating a fleet for global trade.

US dollar equivalents are approximate and use an indicative exchange rate of RMB6.67 per US$1, based on market levels around 28 October 2026.