Yang Ming Profit Hits $55M

Taiwan's second largest shipping firm Yang Ming Marine said on Tuesday its net profit in 1999 reached T$1.675 billion ($55.3 million) The company's 1999 sales totaled T$45.168 billion ($1.5 billion), Yang Ming said in a statement. It gave no comparative figures for 1998. Yang Ming's board of directors had agreed to offer dividends of T$1 per share to stockholders. The dividend included T$0.4 in cash and T$0.6 in stock. The proposal still needs final approval from the company's shareholders' meeting scheduled for June 3. The statement said the board also approved to issue T$3 billion in unsecured corporate bonds to raise operating funds.