ICTSI’s Profit Sinks Despite Growth in Volume

Manila-based container terminal owner and operator International Container Terminal Services Inc. (ICTSI) has posted a net income of USD 58.5 million for the full year of 2015, down by 68 percent compared to the USD 182 million earned in 2014.

During 2015, the company handled a total of 7.8 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs), a five percent increase on 7.4 million TEUs handled in 2014.

According to ICTSI, the rise in volume was mainly due to the continuing volume ramp-up at Contecon Manzanillo S.A. (CMSA) in Manzanillo, Mexico and Operadora Portuaria Centroamericana, S.A. de C.V. (OPC) in Puerto Cortes, Honduras.

Other factors influencing the growth in volume were new shipping line contracts and services at Pakistan International Container Terminal (PICT) in Karachi, and at Contecon Guayaquil S.A. (CGSA) in Ecuador, as well as an increased demand for services at Subic Bay International Terminal Corp. (SBITC) in the Philippines; favorable impact of consolidation at Yantai International Container Terminal (YICT) in China; and the contribution from ICTSI Iraq, the company’s new terminal in Umm Qasr, which began commercial operation in November 2014.

Excluding the volume from the new terminal in Iraq, organic volume increased three percent.

The terminal operator’s revenue from port operations reached USD 1.051 billion in 2015, representing a slight decrease from the previous year’s USD 1.061 billion. The company said that the slight decrease is mainly attributed to unfavorable container volume mix, lower storage revenues and ancillary services, and the negative foreign exchange translation impact at certain terminals.

Furthermore, ICTSI’s revenue was affected by the discontinued vessel calls by two major shipping lines as a result of continuing labor disruption at ICTSI Oregon, Inc. (IOI) in Portland, USA and weaker short-sea trade and reduced vessel calls at Baltic Container Terminal (BCT) in Gdynia, Poland.