International Container Terminals Inc. on Thursday said net income fell 52 percent to $100.4 million last year from $207.5 million in 2018.
ICTSI chairman and president Enrique Razon Jr. blamed the decline in net income on the “one-off non-cash impairment of the concession right assets of Tecplata S.A which we re-valued in light of prolonged difficult economic conditions in Argentina.”
“The outbreak of COVID-19 has had an impact on volumes particularly in Asia and we are closely reviewing developments across the regions in which we operate,” Razon said.
“Whilst we cannot be certain how long this situation will last; we are seeking to mitigate this impact through rigorous cost control and increasing market share. ICTSI is an agile business and able to act swiftly to ensure the business remains robust during these uncertain times,” he added.
Excluding the non-recurring gains and charges, recurring net income in 2019 was 23 percent higher at $259.1 million compared with $210.5 million in the previous year.
ICTSI’s gross revenues from port operations in 2019 increased seven percent to $1.5 billion from $1.4 billion reported in 2018.
“The increase in revenues was mainly due to volume growth; tariff adjustments at certain terminals; new contracts with shipping lines and services; higher revenues from ancillary services; and the contribution from the Company’s new terminals in Lae and Motukea in Papua New Guinea, and Rio De Janeiro in Brazil,” ICTSI said.
ICTSI handled consolidated volume of 10,178,018 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) in 2019, five percent more than 9,736,621 TEUs handled in 2018.
The port operator said the increase in volume was mainly due to continuing expansion at ICTSI’s new terminals in Lae and Motukea in Papua New Guinea and the contribution of the new terminal in Rio de Janeiro in Brazil.
It also cited the improvement in trade activities in Subic, Philippines, Matadi, Democratic Republic of Congo and Basra, Iraq; new contracts with shipping lines and services at Victoria International Container Terminal (VICT) in Melbourne, Australia, Baltic Container Terminal (BCT) in Gdynia Poland, Adriatic Gate Container Terminal (AGCT) in Rijeka, Croatia, Batumi International Container Terminal (BICT) in Batumi, Georgia and Contecon Manzanillo S.A. (CMSA) in Manzanillo, Mexico.