Sino-Global Announces Third Fiscal Quarter 2010 Financial Results

BEIJING, May 14 /PRNewswire-Asia/ -- Sino-Global Shipping America, Ltd. (Nasdaq: SINO) ("Sino-Global" or the "Company"), a leading, non-state-owned provider of shipping agency services operating primarily in China, today announced its selected unaudited financial results for its third fiscal quarter ended March 31, 2010.

    Highlights for the Third Quarter of 2010
    -- Revenues increased 83.3% to US$6.0 million, from US$3.3 million in the
       third quarter of 2009.
    -- Operating loss was US$136 thousand compared to operating loss of US$246
       thousand in the third quarter of 2009.
    -- Basic and diluted losses per share were US$0.01, compared to basic and
       diluted losses per share of US$0.03 in the third quarter of 2009.

"We continued our strong top-line growth this quarter," said Mr. Cao Lei, Sino-Global's Chief Executive Officer. "We believe the trend of revenue increase will continue to the end of 2010 fiscal year and beyond by our significant efforts in strengthening our ties to our existing clients and attracting potential new clients."

"Although the exchange rate of the Chinese RMB against the US dollar remained stable for the last couple of quarters, the pressure of foreign exchange risk still exists. We expect that if the RMB continues to increase in value it will become more expensive to use our US dollar revenues to pay our RMB expenses," said Mr. Zhang Mingwei, Sino-Global's Chief Financial Officer. "To offset the negative impact of the devaluation of US dollar against RMB, we will continue to focus on our combined efforts in promoting sales revenue growth and controlling costs."

Selected Financial Results for the Third Quarter of 2010

Revenues

Total revenues were US$6.0 million in the third quarter of 2010, an increase of 83.3% from US$3.3 million in the 2009 period. The number of ships that Sino-Global served increased 40.4% to 66 in the second quarter of 2010, from 47 in the year-ago period.

The Company expects top-line growth to continue along with the economic recovery in China and around the world. Sino-Global also believes that a substantial majority of its revenues will continue to come from shipping agency services.

Cost of Revenues

Cost of revenues was US$5.2 million in the third quarter of 2010, an increase of 108.8% from US$2.5 million in the year-ago period.

Costs of revenues increased more quickly than revenues, resulting in a lower gross margin, which was 24.20% and 13.61% for the comparative three months ended March 31, 2009 and 2010, respectively. Sino-Global's higher margin revenues from owner's matters significantly reduced in the third quarters of 2010 comparing to the third quarters of 2009, resulting in the decreased gross margin. The foreign exchange rate of Chinese currency against the U.S. dollar was relatively stable during the period. The Chinese Renminbi grew stronger against the U.S. dollar, as the average foreign exchange rate increased from RMB6.8363 to $1.00 for the three months ended March 31, 2009 to RMB6.8275 to $1.00 for the three months ended March 31, 2010. As a result of these changes, Sino-Global's gross profit was US$820 thousand in the third quarter of 2010, an increase of 3.1% from US$795 thousand in the year-ago period.

Operating Expenses

General and administrative expenses were US$1.0 million in the third quarter of 2010, an increase of 14.4% from US$875 thousand in the same period of 2009. General and administrative expenses as a percentage of total revenues decreased to 16.6% in the third quarter 2010 from 26.6% in the year-ago period.

This decrease includes (1) a decrease of personnel expenses of $105,230 and (2) the increased expenses in public listing and Sarbanes-Oxley compliance of $90,873.

Selling expenses were US$38 thousand in the third quarter of 2010, a decrease of 62.0% from US$101 thousand in the year-ago period.

Operating Loss

Operating loss was US$136 thousand in the third quarter of 2010, a decrease of 44.7% from US$246 thousand in the same period of 2009. Operating losses decreased mainly because of the top line revenue growth that generated more gross profits.

Financial income was US$8 thousand in the third quarter of 2010, compared to financial loss of US$9 thousand in the year-ago period. The net financial income comes largely from interest income accumulated from bank deposits and by the foreign exchange losses recognized in the consolidated financial statements.

Income tax expenses were US$121 thousand in the third quarter of 2010, compared to income tax of US$1 thousand in the year-ago period. This expense includes estimated U.S. current income tax expenses of $140,000 offset by a deferred U.S. tax benefit of $19,000. Even though the Company had the consolidated losses in the current quarter, Sino-Global Shipping America, Ltd., which is subject to U.S. income taxes, generated a taxable profit.

Net loss was US$269 thousand in the third quarter of 2010, compared to net loss of US$256 million in the year-ago period. Net loss attributable to Sino-Global Shipping America Ltd. was US$23 thousand in the third quarter of 2010, compared to net loss attributable to Sino-Global Shipping America, Ltd. of US$99 thousand in the year-ago period.

Basic and diluted loss per share in the third quarter of 2010 was US$0.01, compared to basic and diluted loss per share of US$0.03 in the year-ago period.

Other Selected Data

As of March 31, 2010, the Company had US$5.0 million in cash and cash equivalents, compared to US$7.3 million in the year-ago period. Cash and cash equivalents have significantly decreased as the Company received its March revenues of $1.8 million in cash from its major customer on April 1, 2010, and during the three months ended March 31, 2010.

About Sino-Global Shipping America, Ltd.

Registered in the United States in 2001 and operating primarily in mainland China, Sino-Global is a leading, non-state-owned provider of high-quality shipping agency services. With local branches in most of China's main ports and contractual arrangements in all those where it does not have branch offices, Sino-Global is able to offer efficient, high-quality shipping agency services to shipping companies entering Chinese ports. With a subsidiary in Perth, Australia, where it has a contractual relationship with a local shipping agency, Sino-Global provides complete shipping agent services to companies involved in trades between Chinese and Australian ports. Sino-Global also operates a subsidiary in Hong Kong, China, to provide comprehensive shipping agent services to vessels going to and from one of the world's busiest ports.

Sino-Global provides ship owners, operators and charters with comprehensive yet customized shipping agency services including intelligence, planning, real-time analysis and on-the-ground implementation and logistics support. Sino-Global has achieved both ISO9001 and UKAS certifications.

Forward Looking Statements

No statement made in this press release should be interpreted as an offer to purchase any security. Such an offer can only be made in accordance with the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and applicable state securities laws. Any statements contained in this release that relate to future plans, events or performance are forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties as identified in Sino-Global's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Actual results, events or performance may differ materially. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as the date hereof. Sino-Global undertakes no obligation to publicly release the results of any revisions to these forward-looking statements that may be made to reflect the events or circumstances after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.

    For investor and media inquiries, please contact:

     Ms. Apple Liang
     Sino-Global, Beijing
     Tel:   +86-10-6439-1888
     Email: [email protected]

SOURCE Sino-Global Shipping America, Ltd.