Cosco Shipping Energy (01138) rose more than 5% in afternoon trading. At the time of writing, the stock was up 4.94% to HK$18.92, with a turnover of HK$304 million. The company recently announced that the exercise conditions for the first exercise period of its 2023 stock option incentive plan have been met. Financial reports indicate that Cosco Shipping Energy's 2024 EOE reached 28.6%, exceeding the assessment requirement by over 6 percentage points. The company's compound annual growth rate for total profit reached 38.1%, significantly surpassing the 24.1% assessment baseline, with both metrics ranking above the 75th percentile of peer companies. Furthermore, the company has achieved the EVA target assigned by the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission. Guotai Haitong Securities released a report stating that, in the short term, ongoing trade disruptions continue to support freight rates, which remain high despite a slight pullback. Specifically, VLCC TCE rates for the Middle East route are fluctuating at high levels, while rates for the US Gulf route remain above $100,000 per day. Rates for smaller vessels also persist above $100,000 per day. Chinese shipowners are actively repositioning vessels to improve load factors. The firm expects significantly higher year-on-year performance in the first quarter of 2026, with the second quarter also likely to exceed expectations. Huayuan Securities added that if strait transit resumes subsequently, the tanker market could experience a short-term surge in shipments and medium-to-long-term inventory replenishment, potentially leading to further improvements in fundamentals.