Virus slashes PPA income by 25% in January-march

The coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) has taken a toll on the bottom line of state-owned Philippine Ports Authority (PPA), which saw its profits dropping by a quarter during the first three months of the year.

The port operator’s net income stood at P2.54 billion at end-march, a 25-percent decline from the P3.34 billion it booked the year prior. This performance is largely affected by

the lockdowns imposed in different parts of the country and the world to contain the spread of Covid-19.

In March alone, the profits of the port authority plunged by 79 percent to P300.93 million, from P1.41 billion in the same period last year.

“As early as January, there has been a slowdown in the movement of cargo as China, being the location of several transshipment hubs and a number of large manufacturing firms, has imposed necessary restrictions to control the spread of the dreaded disease,” said PPA General Manager Jay Daniel R. Santiago.

In the same comparative periods, revenues of the port authority dipped by 17 percent to P3.75 billion, from P4.51 billion, as earnings from vessel lay-up, storage, arrastre and stevedoring dropped due to the lockdowns.

Meanwhile, its expenses increased by 7.32 percent to P1.22 billion, from P1.13 billion due to hikes in personnel servicing costs.

“Hopefully, with the relaxation of some restrictions on trade, we will be able to arrest the downward trend in the next couple of months particularly when the country is already able to lift its restrictions on some trade and commercial processes,” said Santiago. Despite this expected lackluster performance, the port authority remitted P5 billion in dividends to the national coffers to help fund efforts to fight Covid-19.

“Hopefully, when this is all over, we should not take for granted the lessons we learned from this pandemic but instead we should use these lessons to make ourselves better and stronger as we continue to sail to a better tomorrow,” Santiago added.