Jan. 20—Matson Inc. continued to benefit from strong demand for its China service and announced Wednesday that it expects its net income in the fourth quarter to jump more than fourfold.

Hawaii's largest ocean cargo transportation company projected in preliminary results that its earnings would be in the range of $365.2 million to $382.4 million and its earnings per share would range from $8.70 to $9.10.

That compares to net income of $85.6 million and earnings per share of $1.96 in the final quarter of 2020.

Matson's stock, which rose 58 cents to $85.92 in the regular trading session, soared 7.2 %, or $6.19, to $92.11 in after-hours trading following the announcement. Analysts had been projecting Matson to report earnings per share of just $5.37.

"Matson finished off a strong year with continued improvement in economic and business trends in our markets driving solid performance in both Ocean Transportation and Logistics, " Chairman and CEO Matt Cox said in a statement. "Within Ocean Transportation, our China service continued to see significant demand for its expedited ocean services as volume for e-commerce, garments and other goods remained elevated."

Cox said continued strong demand for the China service was the primary driver of the increase in consolidated operating income year over year.

"Supply chain congestion remains the current issue in the trans-Pacific trade lane due to ongoing elevated consumption trends, U.S. domestic supply chain constraints, and inventory restocking, " Cox said. "For 2022, we expect these conditions to remain largely in place through at least the October peak season and expect elevated demand for our China service for most of the year."

Matson said Hawaii container volume increased 10.4 % primarily due to higher retail and hospitality-related demand due to the continued rebound in tourism and the Hawaii economy, and the benefit of an extra week, compared to the volume in the year-ago period, which was negatively impacted by the state's COVID-19 mitigation efforts, including restrictions on tourism.

China volume was 32.7 % higher during the quarter.

Matson will report its final fourth-quarter results on Feb. 17.