International Container Terminal Services Inc. said it entered into agreements with community landowner groups in Lae to sell a 30-percent stake in South Pacific International Terminal Limited.
ICTSI said in a disclosure that ICTSI South Pacific Limited signed a deal with local communities, Ahi Terminal Services Limited and Labu Investment Limited, to each acquire a 15-percent stake in SPICTL.
ISPL is an ICTSI subsidiary that owns 100 percent of SPICTL.
The signing of the agreements completes the transfer of 30 percent of SPICTL to the local communities in compliance with the terminal operating agreement.
ICTSI in September 2017 signed 25-year concessions to operate ports in Lae and Motukea.
SPICTL will provide and deploy cranes, berth and yard equipment at the Port of Lae. The port is the largest container handling facility in Papua New Guinea.
Lae, capital of Morobe province, is PNG’s second-largest city.
ICTSI earlier reported a net income of $184.9 million in the first nine months of 2019, up 29 percent from $142.9 million a year ago.
Revenue from port operations increased 3 percent to $355.6 million from $344 million.
ICTSI handled a consolidated volume of 7,590,090 twenty-foot equivalent units in the nine-month period, or 6 percent higher than 7,152,392 TEUs it handled in the same period in 2018.