CHINA Shipping Container Lines (CSCL) posted third quarter year-on-year net loss of CNY450.1 million (US$74 million) against a net profit of CNY99 million in the corresponding period last year.

Quarterly revenue also fell 3.4 per cent year on year to CNY9 billion, according to the stock exchange filings from the Shanghai and Hong Kong dual-listed CSCL.

Quarterly results more than tripled the year-on-year net losses in the first nine months to CNY1.7 billion, but the company expects to reverse this losses through the sale of its terminals in the fourth quarter.

Earlier this month, CSCL sold its wholly owned subsidiary, China Shipping Terminal Development, to its parent China Shipping Group for a pre-tax gain of CNY870 million in a move similar to the one it made last year, when it sold and leased back 28 per cent of its container holdings to improve its balance sheet.