SITC lifts nine-month revenue 14.2% to US$2.81bn

SITC International Holdings grew revenue 14.2% year on year to roughly US$2.81 billion in the first nine months of 2026, as the intra-Asia specialist moved more boxes at markedly better rates. The figure compares with US$2.46 billion in the corresponding period of 2025.

The carrier's board has also approved a special dividend of HK$1 per ordinary share — about US$0.13 — payable on 17 December 2026 to shareholders on the register at the close of business on 11 December.

What drove the revenue jump?

Two levers moved together, and the arithmetic matters. SITC handled 2,912,117 TEU in the nine months to 30 September 2026, up 5.9% from 2,749,844 TEU a year earlier. Volume growth alone would have lifted the top line by about six points. It didn't have to work alone.

Average freight rates did the heavier lifting. Excluding income from slot exchange fees, the average rate reached US$825.90 per TEU, a 9.4% increase from US$754.90 per TEU in the first nine months of 2025. More boxes, each earning roughly US$71 more — that combination produces the 14.2% revenue gain the carrier reported.

The pattern tells shippers and forwarders on intra-Asia lanes something concrete: rate improvement outpaced volume growth. Demand didn't simply expand; the price of moving a container on SITC's network rose faster than the tonnage the network carried.

Operating indicator	Nine months 2025	Nine months 2026	Change
Revenue	US$2.46 billion	US$2.81 billion	+14.2%
Container volume	2,749,844 TEU	2,912,117 TEU	+5.9%
Average freight rate	US$754.90/TEU	US$825.90/TEU	+9.4%

What does this change for shippers?

For cargo owners contracting on the lanes SITC serves, a 9.4% average rate increase over nine months signals firming pricing power on the part of the carrier. Bids negotiated against 2025 benchmarks will look stale. Forwarders with allocation agreements should expect counterparties to push for resets closer to the current US$825.90/TEU average.

For SITC itself, the special dividend is the tell. Boards rarely return cash via special distributions when they expect to need every dollar for fleet investment or to absorb a downturn. A HK$1 per share payout, timed for mid-December, reads as confidence that the rate environment has legs into 2027.

The dividend mechanics are tight:

• Shareholders must appear on the register of members at the close of business on 11 December 2026.
• SITC closes its register from 8 to 11 December to determine eligibility.
• Distribution is expected on 17 December 2026.

Caveats on the numbers

One flag before anyone models these figures into a forecast: SITC stressed the operating statistics remain unaudited. They rest on preliminary internal information, and the company cautions they may differ from later financial statements. Treat them as direction, not gospel — the percentages are probably robust, the decimal points less so.

The read-through

Strip away the boilerplate and the story is simple. An intra-Asia-focused operator grew volumes nearly six percent and still found pricing headroom worth more than nine percent on each box. That combination — volume plus rate — is the healthiest mix a liner can post, and it landed at US$2.81 billion over nine months.

If the rate trend holds through the fourth quarter, shippers on SITC's network face renewed contracting pressure into 2027, while the carrier enters the new year with a shareholder payout already banked and momentum behind its average revenue per TEU.