The shipping sector is an important one for the global economy. Many goods are shipped across the seas and ships are an integral part of the world’s supply chains. Shipping companies provide services such as shipbuilding and ship repairs that help to grease the wheels of these supply chains. We introduce three promising shipping companies that recently posted higher earnings that you can consider for your buy watchlist.

Yangzijiang Shipbuilding (SGX: BS6)

Yangzijiang Shipbuilding, or YZJ, is one of the largest non-state-owned shipbuilding companies in China. The blue-chip group operates four shipyards in Jiangsu province that can produce a broad range of commercial vessels such as large containerships, bulk carriers, and LNG carriers. For the first half of 2024 (1H 2024), YZJ’s revenue rose 15.3% year on year to RMB 13 billion. Gross margin expanded by 8.1 percentage points, jumping from 18.6% in 1H 2023 to 26.7% in 1H 2024. The shipbuilder’s net profit soared 77.2% year on year to RMB 3.1 billion....