China Cosco Holdings Co, the country's biggest shipping company, reported an annual net loss of 9.56 billion yuan ($1.54 billion) in 2012, due to the downturn in the dry-bulk market, which has seriously depressed shipping rates.

Sales rose 4.6 percent from a year earlier to 72.06 billion yuan, and its net loss dropped 1 billion yuan from 10.5 billion yuan a year ago, the company said in a filing with the Shanghai stock exchange on Wednesday.

The company's shares were suspended on Thursday, and due to the two consecutive years of losses, it will be put on a special list of the Shanghai Stock Exchange, which will limit its shares' daily trading movements to 5 percent, compared with the standard 10 percent.

Three years of losses could result in it being removed from the exchange.

The company plans to sell Cosco Logistics Co to State-backed parent company China Ocean Shipping (Group) Co for 6.74 billion yuan, it in the statement. The sale will give China Cosco a pretax gain of about 1.96 billion in 2013, it added.

Shares of China Cosco climbed 0.3 percent to HK$3.82 in Hong Kong before the results were announced yesterday.

zhousiyu@chinadaily.com.cn