Rising volumes in Manila, foreign terminals boost ICTSI earnings

Rising volumes in Manila, foreign terminals boost ICTSI earnings Manila-based terminal operator International Container Terminal Services Inc. reported second quarter profit of $17.6 million, a 6 percent increase on the same period last year.
   ICTSI, which manages terminals in Poland, Brazil, Madagascar, Indonesia, China, Syria and Georgia as well as the Philippines, saw revenue jump 53 percent, to $114 million from April through June.
   For the first six months of calendar year 2008, revenue from port operations has grown 49 percent to $216 million.
   'In spite of the general unease about the potential impact of the slowing global economy on trade and containerized cargo volumes, ICTSI continues to see strong business and financial results across our portfolio,” said Enrique K. Razon Jr., ICTSI chairman and president, in a statement. “In addition to improving performance at our existing terminals, we continue to achieve improvements at the terminals we acquired last year, and are actively looking for additional acquisition opportunities.'
   ICTSI handled 913,718 TEUs in the second quarter of 2008, 42 percent higher than the 642,274 TEUs handled in the same period in 2007. From January through June 2008, total TEUs handled were 1.8 million compared to 1.3 million TEUs in the first half of 2007, a 37 percent increase.
   Domestic operations accounted for 460,016 TEUs, or roughly half of total volumes for the quarter. Volume from domestic operations grew 19 percent in the second quarter, due mainly to an 18 percent increase at the Manila International Container Terminal and a 34 percent increase at the company's port operations in Davao, in southern Philippines.
   Foreign container volume grew 77 percent over the same period last year, driven principally by the addition of the company's Ecuador, Syria and Georgia port operations, and strong growth at the company's operations in Madagascar, China, and Indonesia, which each averaged a 39 percent increase. Foreign container volumes now account for half of total ICTSI volume compared to 40 percent in the same period last year, and 46 percent for the full year 2007.