By Lorenz S. Marasigan
RAZON-LED International Container Terminal Services Inc. (ICTSI) has acquired a Mexican port concessionaire for $54.5 million to expand its offshore business portfolio and to gain from the robust growth of the Latin American economy.
In a filing to the stock exchange, the listed Filipino firm said it acquired Maritima de Tuxpan, SA de CV—the company with a concession to construct and operate a maritime container terminal in the Port of Tuxpan in Mexico—from Grupo TMM, S.A.B. and Inmobi-liaria TMM, SA de C.V.
The transaction involved the purchase of 100-percent capital stock in Maritima de Tuxpan for $369.02 per share. Maritima de Tuxpan is the owner of the real estate where the maritime container terminal will be constructed.
“The rationale for the transaction is to continue to expand the business and diversify geographically, and to support, participate in, and benefit from, the positive economic development in Mexico,” the filing read.
The project is expected to increase ICTSI’s consolidated throughput and revenue, and positively contribute to the financial performance of the company, the disclosure read further.
The listed port operator booked a 3-percent rise in its bottom line to $54 million in the first quarter of 2015, driven by continued margin improvement of its offshore subsidiaries.
Revenues rose by 19 percent to $296.1 million, as throughput grew by 13 percent to 1.98 million twenty-foot equivalent units, while consolidated cash operating expenses rose by 11 percent to $119.7 million.
The company has hiked this year’s capital requirements by almost double to bankroll the completion of its offshore terminals and for the capacity expansion of its flagship port in Manila. The $530-million capital expenditures will be used mainly to finish the construction works in Mexico and the Democratic Republic of Congo. It will also be used to start the development of the new terminals in Iraq and Australia, as well as the expansion of its ports in the Philippines.
ICTSI is the largest port operator in the Philippines, which has operations in more than 20 countries across the Asia Pacific, the Americas, and Europe, Middle East and Africa.