China COSCO Holdings Co., China's largest shipping line, said Saturday it may swing back to profit in the first half as its shipping business recovered.

The company's shipping business rebounded strongly in the first half as the global shipping market recovered, the company said in a statement filed with the Shanghai Stock Exchange.

The company's exact first-half profit, revenues and other financial data will not be available until Aug. 26 when its first-half report is due.

The listed arm of China Ocean Shipping (Group) Co., the company posted a 4.62 billion yuan (689 million U.S. dollars) loss in the first half of 2009 as the financial crisis took its toll.

The company is the world's second biggest shipping company by capacity.

Its A-share price rose 1.48 percent to 8.92 yuan Friday.