KUALA LUMPUR: Westports Holdings Bhd has reported a fourth quarter earnings jump of 36% to RM210.98mil over the previous corresponding quarter due to more favourable mix of gateway volume and investment tax allowance provided for the capitalisation of assets for the expansion at container terminals (CT) 8 and 9.
This brings full year earnings to RM651.51mil, a 5.6% improvement over RM616.83mil reported in 2016, on the back of operational revenue of RM1.72 bil, 5% lower than the RM1.8bil in the previous financial year.
In the quarter under review, profit before tax was RM145.43mil or 17% lower from the year-ago quarter as operational revenue slipped 7% to RM435.13mil.
The group has declared a second interim single-tier dividend of 7.95 sen per share to be paid on March 6, 2018, bringing total dividends paid out for the year to 14.32 sen per share.
In a filing with the stock exchange, the group reported that container operations handled a total throughput of nine million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) in 2017 with strong growth in the intra-Asia segment. Gateway containers, which reflected favourable domestic economic activities growth, grew by 10% over the previous year.
However, total transhipment containers were lower at 6.2 million TEU. For conventional cargoes, Westports handled an overall throughput of 10.9 million tonnes with higher volume recorded in the dry bulk segment.
“The container shipping industry went through unprecedented realignment changes that affected almost all major liners in 2017.
“In addition to these, the industry witnessed a wave of mergers and acquisitions, of which some of our clients were involved in. These changes adversely affected our total transhipment volume last year, but Westports have transitioned successfully towards serving new services under the Ocean Alliance,” said Datuk Ruben Emir Gnanalingam, group managing director of Westports.
The group said phase 1 of CT9 with an additional 600m wharf had been completed, and with the delivery of new terminal operating equipment, total container handling capacity had increased to 14 million TEUs per annum.
It added that total outstanding Sukuk Musharakah Medium Term Note is RM1.5bil and the proceeds were used to part-finance the development of the Company’s container terminal expansion. It said total capital expenditure spent in 2017 for CT8 and CT9 was more than RM800mil,
“The added capacity will further strengthen Port Klang as the pre-eminent port for the nation’s gateway trade, while also being one of the main transhipment hubs in the region,” said Gnanalingam. By The Star
