International Container Terminal Services Inc. (ICTSI) said Thursday it plans to explore further international expansion to sustain its growth in 2024.
“We are very actively looking for investments in the regions where we have been successful. Meaning Asia, Latin America, Africa and Middle East,” ICTSI chairman and president Enrique Razon Jr. said during the company’s virtual annual stockholders’ meeting.
“So, we are very active in pursuing these investments and hopefully we continue to be successful in that area,” he said.
Razor said 2024 is ripe with opportunities.
“We continue our single-minded pursuit of our strategy of expanding in the regions that we are focused on, which give the company the best growth opportunities,” he said.
“We intend to pursue further growth in 2024 as we employ our strategy of operating gateway terminals where we have management control in locations with favorable competitive dynamics and high growth potential, while expanding our operating terminals to ensure our resilience,” he said.
Razon also said the tension between the Philippines and China in the West Philippine Sea had no impact on the company’s operations.
“We have not experienced any disruption in China as we have been dealing mainly with local authorities. There has been no effect or any issues there,” he said.
ICTSI allocated $450 million for 2024 capital expenditures, higher than $336.32 million in 2023.
It would use the capex to complete the expansion in Brazil and the development of EJMT in Indonesia as well as the expansion in Mexico, the Philippines and Democratic Republic of Congo.
ICTSI reported a 17-percent drop in net income to $511.53 million in 2023 from $618.46 million a year ago. Gross revenues from port operations last year were 6 percent higher at $2.39 billion compared to the $2.24 billion reported in 2022.
The port operator handled consolidated volume of 12,749,214 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) in 2023, or 4 percent more than 12,216,190 TEUs it served in 2022.