International Container Terminal Services, Inc. (ICTSI) saw its net income attributable to equity holders dropping 12% in the first half of 2020 to $113.4 million from $128.5 million year-on-year.
Revenue declined 4% to $724.3 million from $751.8 million, the terminal operator said in a statement.
Despite reduced earnings and volumes due to the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown restrictions impacting global trade, the company had a “resilient and better than expected performance” in the first half of 2020 due to prudent measures to preserve cash and reduce capital expenditure taken early on and a diversified portfolio, said ICTSI chairman and president Enrique Razon, Jr.
The negative performance was partially tempered by contribution from the new terminal in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and tariff adjustments and new services at certain terminals.
Excluding the ICTSI Rio contribution, gross revenues would have fallen by 6% in the first half of 2020. For the second quarter alone, gross revenues dipped 5% to $348.5 million from $368.0 million in the same quarter last year.
Consolidated volume handled in the first six months fell 5% to 4.800 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) from 5.042 million TEUs in 2019. Excluding contribution of the new terminal in Rio de Janeiro, consolidated volume would have decreased 6% in the first half.
For the second quarter of 2020, consolidated throughput was 11% lower at 2.291 million TEUs compared to 2.563 million TEUs last year.
Looking ahead, Razon said they expect the second half of the year to continue to be challenging and marked with uncertainties. “ICTSI is well-positioned to navigate through these uncertain times, underpinned by our 32 terminals diversely located around the world, the resilience of our business model, agility and a strong capital structure,” he explained.
Consolidated cash operating expenses in the first six months of 2020 were 4% lower at $222.8 million compared to $232 million in the same period in 2019. The decrease was mainly due to continuous group-wide cost reduction and optimization measures, and the favorable translation impact of Brazilian real-based expenses in Suape, Brazil; Australian dollar-based expenses in Melbourne, Australia; Mexican peso-based expenses in Manzanillo, Mexico; and Pakistan rupee-based expenses in Karachi, Pakistan.
ICTSI has reduced its capital expenditure plan for the year to approximately $160 million, which will be utilized mainly to complete ongoing expansion projects.
As of the first half of 2020, ICTSI is involved in 32 terminal concessions and port development projects in 19 countries worldwide.
