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THE
Philippines’ largest shipping company has sold one of
its flagship vessels to a South Korean company to pay
its debts.
SuperFerry 16, the fourth ship to be sold by the
publicly-listed Aboitiz Transport System Corp. (ATSC) in
less than a year, will be acquired by the Chang Myung
Shipping Co. for P752 million. While the Aboitiz-led
company is expected to earn P186 million from the sale,
proceeds from the transaction “will primarily be used to
eliminate much of its interest bearing debt,” the
company said in a statement. ATSC’s debts is estimated
to reach P600 million.
ATSC
expects to sell another vessel in the coming months, the
company said during its last stockholders’ meeting. The
company is reducing its fleet since maintenance costs
have gone up due to surging oil prices and stiff
competition posed by budget airlines.
With the
proposed sale, ATSC’s vessels subsumed under SuperFerry
will be cut to only eight from the previous 14 last
year.
In
addition, Aboitiz said they will also convert four ships
within the year to increase efficiency by eliminating
passenger areas and allotting them for shipments. While
the SuperFerry 12 has already been converted to
accommodate more cargoes, SuperFerry 9’s conversion will
be completed this month. The process will increase cargo
capacity by 204 containers roundtrip, the company said.
Last
year, Aboitiz created a joint venture firm with two
affiliates of A.P. Moeller Group—MCC Transport Singapore
and Mercantile Ocean Maritime Co. (Filipinas) Inc.—would
is expected to cover lost freight revenues owing to the
sale of its ships.
Called
MCC Transport
Philippines,
the joint venture company is expected to operate its
first container ship. Besides having a capacity of 400
twenty-foot metal boxes, the carrier will offer weekly
trips, serving the ports of Manila, Cebu and Cagayan de
Oro.
The
Aboitiz group only owns 33 percent of the joint venture
while MCC Transport and Mercantile controls 40-percent
and 27-percent respectively.
Last
year, Aboitiz sold three vessels and its stake in a
cargo handling service company in Davao, propelling the
company’s earnings by almost 200-percent due to a
one-time gain. Its net income reached P197.3 million
last year from the previous P65.7 million.
The
company, which is currently celebrating its 100th year
in the transport business, said it already delivered
SuperFerry 17 and SuperFerry 16 to its owners,
indicating that the sale proceeds would help its
earnings for the second quarter.
For the
first quarter ending March 31, ATSC reported a narrower
net loss of P30.8 million, over last year’s net loss of
P192.4 million. Its revenues were unchanged at P2.5
billion, the same as last year’s. |
