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AFTER
buying a new vessel and selling its old ship, Lorenzo
Shipping Corp. reversed its streak of revenue losses and
reported an almost fourfold increase in net income for
the first three months of the year.
In a
disclosure, the shipping firm, majority owned by the
Magsaysay Group, said it posted net income of P17.38
million for the period, up from P3.7 million a year
earlier.
The
company’s revenue from freight increased by 12.5 percent
to P313.1 million from P278.36 million due to handling
of higher-value cargo mix. The company did not disclose
details of its cargo volume for the period.
Higher
operating expenses, however, dented its total revenue of
P320.78 million from the previous P276.11 million as a
result of higher fuel costs.
If not
for the sale of MV Lorcon Mindanao, one of the company’s
largest ships, its profit would not have risen too much
in the comparable period.
“The
increase in other income is due to profit from the sale
of MV Lorcon Mindanao in March 2008,” the company said.
During
the period, the company announced the sale of
36-year-old MV Lorcon Mindanao to Coral Bay Maritime
Inc. Nevis for about $2 million.
The
company bought MV Lorcon Manila, with a capacity of 426
twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs), late last year as
replacement vessel.
With the
new vessel, Lorenzo Shipping registered with the Board
of Investments as a new operator of a domestic cargo
ship entitled to certain tax and nontax incentives that,
among others, include income-tax holiday for six years
from September 2007 or actual start of commercial
operations. The incentives are limited to revenues
generated from the new activity.
Lorenzo
Shipping is now 70.3-percent owned by National Marine
Corp.—a company majority owned by the Magsaysay
Group—13.53 percent by Pioneer Insurance and Surety
Corp. and the rest by minority holders led by the Sy and
Go families.
It
operates a fleet of seven vessels, with capacities of
between 200 TEUs and 426 TEUs and speeds of 11 knots to
15 knots, deployed to key ports in Visayas and Mindanao.
Its
network consists of branches in
Cebu, Davao, General Santos, Cotabato,
Iloilo,
Cagayan and agencies in Zamboanga, Dumaguete and
Bacolod.
Its
other vessels are MV Lorcon Cagayan de Oro, MV Lorcon
Davao, MV Lorcon Visayas, MV Lorcon Cebu and MV Lorcon
Luzon.
Lorenzo
Shipping was founded and incorporated in 1972 by the Go
family. Its business focus has evolved from a break-
bulk cargo carrier to a fully containerized
cargo-shipping company. |
