China's Tianjin Port Development Holdings has posted HK$130.6 million ($16.8 million) in 2008 net profit, down 45.8% on year.

Revenue from the company's container division fell 2.2% as demand for Chinese goods tapered off during the second half of last year.

The company said its container handling division recorded revenue decline despite handling 8.5 million TEUs in 2008, up 19.7% from 2007.

Revenue from the company's bulk cargo operations, however, rose 19.8% year-on-year, bringing total revenue up by 5.5% to HK$1.26 billion ($162.6 million) from HK$1.19 billion ($153.5 million) posted in 2007.

''Faced with the slowdown of the economy in China triggered by the global financial and economic turmoil, the revenue of the group did not meet the internal target anticipated by the management,'' the company said in a statement.

''In addition to the increase in operating cost, the overall performance of the group in 2008 is unsatisfactory. We expect the operating environment in 2009 will continue to give great challenges to the port business,'' it said.

Tianjin Port Development, one of the dominant terminal operators in Tianjin, acquired a stake in Shanghai-listed Tianjin Port Co in March 2009 at a price of HK$10.96 billion ($1.4 billion).

Tianjin Port Co focuses on bulk cargo business while Tianjin Port Development focuses on container business.

Tianjin Port Development said the acquisition ''will significantly increase the container business which is complemented by the significantly increased exposure to bulk cargo, resulting in a more diversified business structure for the group.''