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Chelsea Logistics booked a smaller loss at P430.87 million in the first half
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This is 57% lower than P1-billion loss reported in the same period last year
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Passenger and cargo volumes rose amid economic revival following easing of pandemic restrictions in January
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Passage revenue surged 83% while cargo revenue increased 8%
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Tugboat revenue rose to P175 million but logistics revenue declined 7%
Chelsea Logistics and Infrastructure Holdings Corp. (CLIHC) narrowed losses in the first half to P430.87 million, down 57% from the P1 billion hit the company took in the same period last year.
Consolidated revenue in the first six months reached P3.58 billion, 23% higher than its year-ago level of P2.91 billion and 2% more than its first-half 2019 pre-pandemic consolidated revenue of P3.49 billion, CLIHC said in a regulatory disclosure.
CLIHC said the reopening of the Philippine economy and easing of pandemic restrictions from January this year increased passenger and cargo volumes. Nonetheless, it said lingering effects of the pandemic, such as vessel availability issues due to extended drydocking, volatile fuel costs, and inflation, weighed down the business.
Despite the challenges, the group said it worked on bringing back one vessel at a time to trading status. This drove passage revenue in the first half to as high as P947 million, an 83% year-on-year surge, as passenger volume increased, allowing the average ticket price to cover for the rising fuel prices.
CLIHC noted that the first-half 2023 passage revenue also exceeded pre-pandemic 2019 revenue by 30%.
As businesses were back in full-capacity mode, cargo volume grew, lifting freight revenue 8% to P1.8 billion and accounting for 50% of group revenue. It likewise exceeded pre-pandemic 2019 revenue of P1.03 billion by 75%.
Still, CLIHC said vessel and container van availability issues worked to limit the growth in the cargo sector.
The full six-month effect of charter revenue from SuperCat helped the chartering segment’s top line rise 4% to P321 million even with a reduction in the tankers’ group revenue due to a change in contract mix to achieve a consistent revenue stream for the company.
Tugboat revenue rose slightly to P175 million while logistics revenue declined 7% to P250 million.
Cost of sales and services increased 5.4% to P2.78 billion from P2.64 billion.
“As we have set out earlier, we continue to improve the four areas of our business critical to further enhancing our business: fleet availability, customer experience, operational excellence, and technology advancements,” CLIHC president and chief operating officer Chryss Alfonsus Damuy said in a statement.
“With increasing demand and traffic, we continue to activate and deploy our ships that had been laid up for the past years. Our loyal customers will see more positive developments from us in the coming days.”
CLIHC is the shipping and logistics arm of the Udenna Group of Companies. Its subsidiaries include Chelsea Shipping Corp.; Trans-Asia Shipping Lines, Udenna Investments B. V.; Starlite Ferries, Worklink Services Inc.; TASLI Services Inc.; and SuperCat.
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