Westports Q3 earnings rise to RM159.2m
Westports Holdings Bhd’s net profit rose to RM159.2 million in the third quarter ended September from RM142.3 million in the same period last year.
This is mainly due to higher container volume handled and stable reported cost of sales under the new Malaysian Financial Reporting Standards 16 accounting rules.
Westports said it achieved another consecutive recordbreaking container throughput level in the third quarter.
It handled 2.77 million twenty-foot equivalents (TEUs) containers for the quarter while volume in the first ninemonth increased by 16 per cent from 8.04 million TEUs over the previous corresponding period.
Group managing director Datuk Ruben Emir Gnanalingam said Westports had sustained its favourable container throughput growth momentum against a backdrop of moderate industry expansion rate.
He said the firm received strong support from its clients, including liners under the Ocean Alliance, which used Westports as one of their transshipment in Southeast Asia.
Expansion in the Intra-Asia segment had also provided a broad-base momentum to enable the company to attain its container volume growth of 16 per cent, which was well above the industry average, he added.
Westports expects to achieve a double-digit growth rate over last year.
“In order to support our clients’ growth and the industry’s trend of deploying ever larger ultra large container vessels, Westports is planning a multi-billion container terminal expansion that will double our total terminal handling capacity,” said Ruben.
The significant investments required would be funded by Westports and financing raised from the capital markets, he added.
Ruben said Westports expanded facilities would also further strengthen Port Klang’s role as the preeminent port for the nation’s gateway trade and reinforce its terminal as one of the main transshipment hubs in the Southeast Asia region for international container shipping alliances.