PSA International’s profits plunge in 2016

However, the global port operator increased container throughput by 5.5 percent from 2015.    Global port operator PSA International recorded a net profit of 1.17 billion Singapore dollars (U.S. $836 million) for 2016, falling 7.5 percent from a year prior, the company said Thursday.
   Revenues for 2016 inched up 3 percent year-over-year to 3.68 billion Singapore dollars.
   Overall, PSA handled 67.63 million TEUs in 2016, a 5.5 percent increase from 2015. PSA’s flagship Singapore terminals handled 30.59 million TEUs in 2016, while the remainder of its terminals outside Singapore handled 37.04 million TEUs during the year. 
   “In 2016, we witnessed a world beset with pivotal events that shook the social, political and economic fabric of nations,” PSA International Group Chairman Mr. Fock Siew Wah said. “Significant among them were the heightened geopolitical tensions in the Middle East and other parts of the world, Britain’s decision to exit from the European Union, and changes in the U.S. political leadership which could raise the spectre of protectionism and slow down global trade.
   “2017 will likely be another year fraught with uncertainties but also opportunities,” he added.
   PSA, which has around 30,000 staff, participates in around 40 terminals in 16 countries across Asia, Europe and the Americas.

Correction: A previous version of this story had the incorrect conversion to U.S. currency for PSA International’s 2016 net profit.