Malaysian port operator Westports Holdings Bhd announced a net profit of MYR159.9 million (US$39.7 million) in the second quarter ended June 30, up 31% from MYR122.1 million a year ago, due to higher container volumes, revised container tariff, and lower fuel costs.
Revenue for the quarter also climbed 29% to MYR522.6 million from MYR405.3 million last year, thanks mainly to higher container throughput, which rose 16% to 2.5 million twenty-foot equivalent units from 2.2 million TEUs a year ago, a company filing with the stock exchange showed.
For the first six months, the port operator’s net profit stood higher at MYR330.9 million, up 36.6% from MYR242.3 million in 2015, boosted partly by a one-off gain from the disposal of investment in securities.
Revenue for the first half of the year rose 22.8% to MYR987.3 million against MYR804 million in the corresponding period last year, as volume reached a record-high of 4.9 million TEUs from 4.4 million TEUs previously.
“The volume improvement of 11% was driven especially by transhipment containers,” according to Westports. Transshipment containers increased to 3.6 million TEUs, while gateway containers added up to 1.3 million TEUs.
“Our first six months’ volume has been very encouraging and resilient given the modest regional economic growth during the period as we achieved another milestone by handling our highest ever interim container volume of 4.9 million TEUs,” the company said.
Group CEO Ruben Emir Gnanalingam said the company also benefited from accommodating shipping clients’ ad-hoc handling requirements as carriers introduced larger vessels into their container shipping services.
Westports’ total volume constituted about 76% of Port Klang’s overall container throughput in the first half.
Conventional throughput was 5.5 million tonnes as Westports handled items such as wheat, soy, sugar, steel products, and project cargoes for domestic consumption and economic activities. Liquid bulk throughput improved by 18% as bunker operations intensified.
Ruben predicted a realignment in the container shipping industry next year as key liners in existing container shipping alliances form new and different groupings next year.
He said Westports intends to continue meeting shipping clients’ regional transshipment requirements by expanding container terminal facilities. He said Phase 1 of the expansion of Container Terminal 8 (CT8) has begun with the addition of four new state-of-the-art, 52-meter-high ship-to-shore cranes and six energy-efficient rubber-tired gantry cranes.
When completed, the CT8 expansion project will raise Westports’ total container handling capacity to 13.5 million TEUs. The contiguous linear berth would be extended to 5.2 kilometers, “thereby allowing the group to also support requirements of new and larger shipping alliances from 2017 onwards,” he added.
Westports Holdings, located at Port Klang along the Straits of Malacca, is the largest listed port operator in the country. It handles container and conventional cargoes as well as provides a wide range of port services, including marine, rental, and other ancillary services.
Photo: Rifleman_82
