HPH Trust Suffers Major Drop in 1Q Profit

Singapore’s container port business trust Hutchison Port Holdings Trust (HPH Trust) recorded a 52.7 percent decrease in its profit for the first quarter of 2017, which dropped to HKD 375.9 million (USD 48.3 million) from HKD 794.2 million (USD 102.05 million) posted in the same period last year. 

What is more, profit attributable to unitholders of HPH Trust went down to HKD 166.9 million in the first quarter of this year from HKD 554.9 million seen in the same period last year, a drop of 69.9 percent.

From January to March this year, HPH Trust’s revenue and other income decreased by 6.3 percent to HKD 2.6 billion from HKD 2.8 billion posted during the three-month period last year.

On January 1, 2017, Hongkong International Terminals Limited (HIT), a member of HPH Trust, COSCO-HIT Terminals and Asia Container Terminals Limited (ACT) started to co-manage and operate 16 berths across Terminals 4,6,7,8, and 9 in Kwai Tsing, Hong Kong.

Combined container throughput of HIT, COSCO-HIT and ACT (collectively HPHT Kwai Tsing) increased by 3.2 percent in the first three months of this year when compared to the same period of 2016, primarily due to higher transshipment cargoes.

“The roll-out of the co-management arrangement is progressing well. HPH Trust is confident to deliver the expected cost and operational synergies in 2017,” HPH Trust said.

However, container throughput of HPH Trust’s Yantian International Container Terminals (YICT) decreased by 1.4 percent from January to March 2017, primarily due to weaker empty and transshipment cargoes.

“In addition to the economic performances of the US and Europe, HPH Trust’s performance is also impacted by the outcomes of the structural consolidation within the container shipping industry and the consequent rationalisation of services,” the business trust further said.

“Due to adverse market conditions…, shipping lines will continue to deploy mega-vessels, reform their carrier alliances and expand the coverage of vessel-sharing schemes in 2017 … Against this setting, HPH Trust is well positioned to be the preferred port of call given its natural deep-water channels and … mega-vessel handling capabilities,” HPH Trust concluded.