ICTSI still keen on expanding portfolio

International Container terminal Services Inc. (ICTSI) is keen on investing in new ports that make business sense in the new normal, as it moves to further expand its operations portfolio amid the pandemic.

During the company’s annual stockholders meeting, ICTSI Chairman Enrique K. Razon Jr. said his group is scouting for more opportunities to capitalize on the need for healthier global supply chains, which have been affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.

“Even during this crisis, we are still keenly on the lookout for opportunities to expand our portfolio and continue to be very active in seeking out potential acquisitions or new projects whose potential or valuation makes sense in this environment,” he said in a livestream of the meeting on Thursday.

Razon said the pandemic has caused disruptions in the global trade flows, as China and the rest of the world started to impose strict restrictions on global traffic to curb the spread of the virus.

“But I can tell you that the impact has not been as severe as we ourselves expected, proving once again the tremendous resilience of our business.”

The global port operator, Razon said, responded to this by cutting capital expenses from $270 million to $160 million.

“Given the great uncertainty of many economies and the global economy itself, we have shored up our balance sheet, and we will continue to seize every opportunity to further strengthen our finances going forward.”

The port operator saw its profits declining by almost a fifth in the first quarter of 2020 as it posted lower revenues due to the Covid-19 pandemic and because of the increases in its expenses related to concession rights

During the said period, the global port operator recorded a net income attributable to equity holders of $59.6 million, an 18-percent reduction from the $72.4 million it netted the year prior, as revenues from port operations declined by 2 percent to $375.8 million from $383.8 million while its cash expenses rose by 6 percent to $119 million from $112 million.

Also, consolidated financing charges and other expenses for the quarter increased by 17 percent from $28.3 million in 2019 to $33.2 million.

Traffic volume, measured in twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUS), was flattish at 2.51 million TEUS in March.