Marine service provider Harbor Star Shipping Services, Inc. (HSSI) reported a 202.8% increase in net income for the first nine months of 2016 due to higher ship calls and payment of repair and improvement contracts.
HSSI disclosed to the Philippine Stock Exchange that net income from January to September 2016 rose to P82.288 million from P27.173 million in the same period last year. Revenue likewise increased, up 38% to P978.3 million from P709.7 million in the first nine months of 2015.
HSSI said revenue from harbor assistance grew 47.7% to P753.8 million from P510.4 million last year due to increase in ship calls at major ports nationwide.
In late 2015, HSSI agreed to repair a jetty in Quezon province, the construction contract bringing in additional revenue of P57.5 million as of September 30, 2016. In addition, during the current period, P4.1 million has been paid out of a P15.5-million contract to repair and improve a berthing facility in Davao.
Towing services also showed positive growth with a year-on-year increase of P50.8 million.
However, the 47% and 53% drop in revenue from lighterage services and other marine services, respectively, partially offset growth.
Meanwhile, HSSI took delivery of tugboat M/T Draco at the Port of Batangas on November 3. The 2,600 BHP, 35-ton bollard pull tugboat will augment the continuous domestic expansion drive of the company.
M/T Draco is the second tugboat imported by HSSI in 2016, after M/T Lucida which arrived from Japan on May 2016. The 4,000 BHP 50-ton bollard pull tugboat M/T Lucida is among the youngest and most powerful harbor tugboats in the country. The testing, inspection, and certification company Bureau Veritas-classed M/T Lucida will be used for harbor assistance and regional towing jobs.
With these two tugboats, HSSI said it now manages 40 tugboats in the Philippines and Malaysia.
The company also recently signed a financing agreement for access to up to US$2.5 million in credit facility to fund expansion plans and overseas operations.
HSSI said the credit facility will be used to fund tug acquisition for its Philippine operations and as working capital for its Malaysia subsidiary, Peak Flag Sdn Bhd.
It also signed a deal with Guam Industrial Services, Inc. to establish a joint venture company that will operate several floating dry-dock facilities in the Philippines, with initial operations to start in the middle of 2017.
HSSI also has a wholly owned subsidiary, Harbor Star Subic Corporation, which offers marine-related ancillary services such as harbor assistance, towage, lighterage, oil-spill response, and underwater marine services to vessels and terminals operating within the Subic Bay Freeport Zone.
Image courtesy of Stuart Miles at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
