ATI reports 15% rise in net profit to 1.3B in Q3

Higher international cargo volumes, which were especially strong in Batangas Container Terminal (BCT), drove the revenues of Asian Terminals Inc. (ATI) to 5.9 billion at the end of third quarter, up 23 percent from the same period last year.

In a disclosure with the Philippine Stock Exchange yesterday, ATI said that it posted a net income of 1.4 billion for the 9-month period, 60.3 percent higher than 2013.

Excluding the unrealized foreign exchange gains attributable to port concession rights payable, ATI’s net income would have been 1.3 billion. On a like-for-like basis, this represented a 15 percent increase in net income over the comparable period last year.

The listed port operator cited the rapid growth of international containers handled by BCT, with volumes rising over 560 percent by end-September, as among the contributors to its solid financial performance growth. BCT’s 9-month volume is already four times higher than its full year throughput in 2013.

ATI also said that higher international non-containerized cargoes handled by its ports in Batangas and Manila contributed to its bottom line.

Billed as the best port gateway for Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon), BCT has provided an increasingly comprehensive port alternative to shippers amid the trucking and logistics constraints experienced in Manila in recent months.

On a weekly basis, vessels call the port to connect shippers to Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, Japan, Indonesia and other key regional and global markets.

BCT is equipped with two modern quay cranes, four rubber-tired gantry cranes, side loaders, yard trucks and other cargo handling equipment, enabling it to handle an annual volume of 360,000 TEUs (twenty-footer equivalent units).