The net income of the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) logged a double-digit hike in the first nine months of the year, this despite the continuing drop in storage fees following the introduction of the Terminal Appointment Booking System (TABS) early this year.
Latest data from the PPA showed that all aspects of its revenue sources posted significant increases, even as total expenses registered a modest decline.
“Net income increased by 16.11% to P5.99 billion from only the P5.16 billion raked in last year,” PPA general manager atty Jay Daniel R. Santiago told members of the PPA Board in their regular meeting Friday.
“The decrease in storage fee of about 39.56% brought about by the implementation of several anti-port congestion measures has been offset in the other revenue items as operations became more efficient and effective due to these measures, specifically TABS that hastened the movement of inbound and outbound containers at the Manila Ports,” Santiago explained.
TABS is a government-endorsed web-based system piloted in October 2015 that manages truck movements in and out of Manila International Container Terminal and Manila South Harbor.
“The modest increase in the Fund Management income of about 6% to P68 million due to the hike in interest rates for special/high-yield savings deposits has also contributed to the strong revenue performance of the agency,” Santiago added.
Gross revenues, on the other hand, rose 8% to P10.62 billion for the period under review from P9.84 billion posted a year earlier, wherein port revenues reached P10.55 billion from P9.78 billion accumulated in the same period last year.
Total expenses, meanwhile, decreased 1.13% to P4.63 billion in the first nine months of 2016 from P4.69 billion in the same period a year ago because of the gradual disbursement in the implementation of repair and maintenance projects complemented by the decrease in depreciation charges. Operating expenses declined 2.56% to P4.49 billion from P4.61 billion a year earlier. However, non-operating expense increased 81% to P145.02 million, up from only P80.11 million between January and September 2015.
PPA in a statement said combined yard utilization at the two international Manila ports is currently at 65%, which is equivalent to about 52,900 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) being inside the terminals. Yard productivity remains high, ranging from 20 to 30 moves an hour. The efficient yard management for both terminals is attributed mainly to TABS “that catapulted port efficiency by at least 96%.” Prior to TABS, the average daily gate-out at the Manila ports stood at 4,500 to 5,000 TEUs, PPA said, as compared to the post-TABS era when daily gate-out averaged 7,000 to 7,500 TEUs.
PPA said the recent decision of the Inter-Agency Council on Traffic to impose a no-window ban hours on private vehicles under the number coding scheme is also expected to further ease the withdrawal and deposit of containers, particularly Christmas cargoes, from and to the Manila ports.
Image courtesy of yodiyim at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
