PPA 11-month profit rises 17%
THE PHILIPPINE Ports Authority (PPA) yesterday reported a 17% rise in net profit for the first 11 months of 2016.
PPA said in a statement on Tuesday that net profit hit P7.164 billion during the January to November period, higher than the P6.137 billion posted a year earlier due to the increases in rollon, roll-off (Ro-Ro) fees, berthing fees and vessel lay-up fees.
“In the last five months, we almost tripled our revenue compared to our collection in the first semester of 2016. This performance exhibits an overall healthy financial condition with indications of strong ability to service obligations and long-term financial security,” PPA General Manager Jay Daniel R. Santiago was quoted as saying, adding that the agency will continue to work to improve its revenue, eventually translating to better and efficient ports and services for the public.
PPA posted a net profit of P4.057 billion in 2015, down 4.5%. Revenue in 2015 stood at P13.167 billion, against the preceding year’s P12.443 billion.
Revenue totaled P12.901 billion for the 11-month period, up 8.03% from a year earlier and exceeding the programmed revenue of P11.714 billion targeted for the period.
Fund Management Income (FMI), however, declined by almost 7% to P74.84 million due to the slump in interest rates for special and/or high-yield savings deposits resulting from the volatile market behavior in view of global economic and political uncertainties, PPA said.
“PPA continues to pour a large portion of its resources into port infrastructure facilities nationwide and as of end-November, the agency completed 55 projects, 64 are still ongoing, one suspended and 51 others are about to start. PPA has allotted approximately P6.068 billion for these said projects,” the agency said.
Mr. Santiago has said PPA will prioritize rehabilitation and development of more ports this year in a bid to further push inter-island connectivity via RoRo ferry services.
In particular, he said the agency will rehabilitate the Iloilo port and Abra de Ilog in Mindoro, expand the port in General Santos City, and pursue an ongoing rehabilitation and construction of a passenger terminal building in Cagayan de Oro.
The PPA also announced it is looking to start the development of the Davao Sasa Port by early 2017 and possibly fund the project — estimated to be about P4.7 to about P4.9 billion — internally.
PPA announced yesterday that a new multipurpose Maritime Center will also break ground in Iloilo to serve as a one-stop shop for the maritime community there. The P60-million project is a multi- agency initiative of the PPA, Angkla Partylist and the Department of Public Works and Highways ( DPWH) Region VI. It is set to be completed within the second quarter of the year. —