ICTSI rounds Q1 with 41% profit hike

LISTED port operator International Container Terminal Services Inc. (ICTSI) closed the first quarter with a net income P375 million, 41 percent higher than the P266 million it recorded in the same period last year.
       Continued strong performance at the company’s non-Philippine operations accounted for virtually all of the increase in quarterly earnings relative to the prior year’s period. Foreign operations contributed 53 percent its consolidated net income, as compared with 35 percent in the first quarter of 2005, and 34 percent for the full year 2005.
       “A somewhat disappointing performance at our flagship terminal in Manila caused by weak volumes was more than offset by excellent contributions from our international units,” said ICTSI chair Enrique Razon Jr.
       ICTSI handled consolidated volume of 459,403 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) during the first quarter, an improvement of 4 percent compared to the 443,373 handled in the first quarter of 2005.
       Domestic operations accounted for 292,487 TEUs, or 64 percent of consolidated volumes for the quarter in review. This is a 6-percent decline over the volumes handled in the 2005 first quarter.
       The decline was offset by the 25-percent growth of the foreign operations to 166,916 TEUs, now accounting for 36 percent of consolidated volume from 30 percent in the first quarter of 2005. Tecon Suape, S. A. (TSSA) in Brazil and Baltic Container Terminal in Poland both registered 9-percent volume growth over the year-ago period.
       Consolidated gross revenues from port operations increased by 14 percent to P2.692 billion from P2.373 billion in the year-ago period, as improvements in net yield per TEU handled at all of the company’s terminals supplemented the modest growth in consolidated volumes.
       ICTSI invested P441 million in the first quarter to expand the handling capacity and improve the operating efficiency of MICT, TSSA and Madagascar International Container Terminal Services Ltd. This year, ICTSI plans to make more investments in its facilities and pursue the acquisition and development of additional terminals to add to its portfolio. On Wednesday, Naha International Container Terminal Inc., an ICTSI affiliate, said it is developing the Naha International Container Terminal in Okinawa, Japan into a regional hub.
       On Monday, ICTSI said it bought 95 percent of Indonesian port operator PT Makassar Terminal Services for $5.6 million. Indonesia would be International Container’s fifth overseas operation. H. M. Reyes