ATI ramps up income in H1

Earnings of listed Asian Terminals Inc. (ATI) rose by nearly a fifth in the first half, driven by record cargo volumes handled by its international gateway ports in Manila and Batangas.

ATI recorded a net income of P1.40 billion in the first semester, up 18.2 percent from P1.19 billion in the same period last year.

Revenue grew 12.4 percent to P5.70 billion from P5.07 billion last year on account of higher international containerized cargoes handled by Manila South Harbor (MSH) and Batangas Container Terminal (BCT) as well as higher containers, domestic RoRo, and passengers handled by Batangas Port.

“We have capacity and are continuously increasing our capabilities to handle future growth,” ATI executive vice president William Khoury said.

“Despite handling growing volumes, our international container ports in Manila and Batangas are performing at optimum production and utilization levels heading into the ‘ber’ months, the peak season for shipments,” Khoury said.

For the first half, MSH facilitated the delivery of over 560,000 TEUs (twentyfoot equivalent units) of foreign shipment, its highest volume over a sixmonth period.

This was behind an all-time high single-month volume of nearly 105,000 TEUs in May, followed by over 103,000 TEUs in June.

ATI said the BCT stepped up its role as trade facilitator in Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon), offering competitive market connectivity to major shippers and helping decongest Manila’s roads.

BCT handled over 110,000 TEUs from January to June this year, higher by over 18 percent than last year, to keep on pace of exceeding its 2017 record throughput of nearly 200,000 TEUs.

ATI is spending approximately P8 billion this year to further boost the efficiency and capacity of its ports.

The investment include the continuous yard expansion projects at MSH as well as the delivery of two additional quay cranes and four more rubber-tired gantry cranes at BCT by the fourth quarter alongside the ongoing expansion of BCT’s berth and yard facilities.