International Container Terminal Services Inc. (ICTSI) said it looks to spend $270 million this year, up 12.12 percent from last year’s $240.8 million.
ICTSI said the capital expenditure will be utilized mainly for ongoing expansion projects at Manila International Container Terminal in the Philippines and Contecon Manzanillo S.A. (CMSA) in Mexico, yard expansion at ICTSI Democratic Republic of Congo, equipment acquisitions and upgrades, and for maintenance requirements.
The company reported profit last year dropped 52 percent to $100.4 million, from the prior year’s $207.5 million. Revenues grew seven percent to $1.5 billion, from $1.4 billion in 2018.
Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization rose 10 percent to $830.1 million, from $755.4 million in 2018.
The company said recurring profit grew 23 percent to $259.1 million, from $210.5 million the previous year.
ICTSI said it recognized non-recurring charges of $158.7 million last year owing to “impairment charges on the concession rights assets of Tecplata S.A.,” its terminal in Buenos Aires, Argentina, worth $156 million due to lower projected cash flows on its updated business plan as a result of the prevailing and challenging economic conditions in Argentina.
“In addition, the company also booked a $2.7 million charge on acceleration of debt issue cost brought about by the partial prepayment of the company’s Euro-denominated term loan,” it added.
In relation to 2018, ICTSI recognized a non-recurring gain of $2.8 million due to the termination of the interest rate swap brought about by the prepayment of the Project Finance loan in CMSA, its container terminal in Manzanillo, Mexico, and a $5.8 million non-recurring impairment charge on the goodwill at its terminal in Davao, Philippines.
ICTSI handled 10.18 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) of cargo in 2019, up 5 percent from 9.74 million TEUs in 2018.
The increase in volume was mainly due to continuing ramp-up at ICTSI’s new terminals in Lae and Motukea in Papua New Guinea and the contribution of the new terminal in Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, as well as improvement in trade activities in Subic, Philippines; Matadi, Democratic Republic of Congo; and Basra, Iraq.
The higher volume was also due to new contracts with shipping lines and services at Victoria International Container Terminal in Melbourne, Australia; Baltic Container Terminal in Gdynia, Poland; Adriatic Gate Container Terminal in Rijeka, Croatia; Batumi International Container Terminal in Batumi, Georgia; and at CMSA.
ICTSI attributed the increase in revenues to volume growth, tariff adjustments at certain terminals, new contracts with shipping lines and services, higher revenues from ancillary services, and the contribution from its new terminals in Lae, Motukea and Rio De Janeiro.
ICTSI is a leading global developer, manager and operator of container terminals in the 50,000 to 3 million TEU/year range. It operates in six continents and continues to pursue container terminal opportunities around the world.
