Listed marine services provider Harbor Star Shipping Services, Inc. reported a 42% plunge in net income to P32 million in the first quarter of 2015 from P55.2 million year-on-year as earnings from its towing services deflated.
Revenue likewise dropped 13% to P236.3 million from P270.7 million in 2014, Harbor Star reported in a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange.
The company attributed the decline to lower revenues from towing services of P9.4 million in March 2015 compared to P47.5 million in the same month last year, noting that revenues from towing services are “not regular in nature.”
Revenues from harbor assistance likewise decreased 6% to P174 million from P185 million, “still mainly due to port congestion at the Manila International Port.”
The group said it has yet to clinch salvage projects in 2015. In the first three months of 2014, Harbor Star generated P16.7 million in salvage revenues.
Revenues from lighterage services, on the other hand, surged 143% to P50.4 million in the first quarter of 2015 from P20.7 million in the same period last year.
Income from other services also rose 382% to P2.532 million from P525,549 in 2014. Cost of services, on the other hand, dropped 5% from P169.2 million in the first quarter of 2014 to P160.4 million in 2015.
Last year, the group reported a 14% increase in net income, earning P123.7 million in 2014 from P108.5 million in 2013.
The company maintains a fleet of 35 domestic and international class tugboats, four barges, a cargo vessel, an oil-spill response vessel, and an anchor handling tug supply vessel.
Newly acquired vessels in 2013 and 2014 included Skat, Sarin, Propus, Hamal, Tabit, Tyl, Dubhe, and Mimosa. The tugboat operator also owns 45% of Malaysian marine services provider Peak Flag Sdn Bhd, which started operations at North Port in Malaysia in the last quarter of 2014.
As of December last year, Harbor Star services approximately 64 ports, with 13 as base or hub ports including Bataan, Batangas, Bohol, Cagayan de Oro, Davao, General Santos, Leyte, Manila International Container Terminal, Palawan, Semirara, Surigao, and Maubay and Sariaya in Quezon.
