MANILA, Philippines - A unit of International Container Terminal Services Inc. (ICTSI) is acquiring a stake in a Pakistan container cargo terminal.
In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, ICTSI said its indirect, wholly-owned subsidiary ICTSI Mauritius Ltd. intends to acquire 35 to 55% of the issued and paid-up shares of Pakistan International Container Terminal Ltd. (PICT).
PICT, a company listed in the Karachi Stock Exchange, is a container cargo terminal located at Karachi Port. The port has a maximum handling capacity of 750,000 twenty-foot equivalent container units.
ICTSI, a listed firm led by businessman Enrique Razon, did not say how much it will pay to acquire the shares in the Pakistan firm.
Meanwhile, ICTSI said its net income in 2011 grew 33% to $130 million over the previous year's $98.3 million.
The company attributed the higher net income to an upsurge in revenues, lower financing charges, lower effective tax rate and a one-time gain on sale of non-core assets.
In 2011, ICTSI sold its 16.79% stake in Portek International Limited and booked a one-time equity tax charge imposed by the tax authorities on all legal entities and individuals in Colombia.
ICTSI said its revenue from port operations reached $664.8 million, 26% higher than the $527.1 million reported in 2010
"The increase in revenues for 2011 was mainly due to the strong double digit volume growth across all geographic segments of the Group, higher storage revenues and ancillary services, favorable volume mix, and the inclusion of the new terminals in Portland, Oregon, US and Rijeka, Croatia," the company said.
As of end December 2011, ICTSI handled consolidated volume of 5,233,795 TEUs, 25% higher than 2010's figures. The company said this was due to continued growth in international trade, especially in areas where ICTSI ports are located; as well as new shipping line customers and the consolidation of its new ports in Portland and Rijeka.
Volume from the firm's 6 key terminal operations in Manila, Brazil, Poland, Ecuador, Madagascar and China, which account for 74% of its consolidated volume for 2011, increased 18% to 3,867,407 TEUs.
In 2011, the company said its capital expenditures amounted to $227.8 million. This year, ICTSI is increasing its capex to $550 million. Of the total, $345 million is allotted for greenfield projects in Argentina, Mexico and Colombia. The remaining amount is for civil works, systems improvement, and purchase of major cargo handling equipment at its port operations in Manila, Croatia, Brazil and Ecuador.
ICTSI owns or operates 22 terminal facilities: 6 in the Philippines and one each in China, Ecuador, Poland, Brazil, Madagascar, Syria, Georgia, Brunei, Indonesia, Japan, India, Colombia, Argentina, Croatia, Mexico and US.
Source: ABS-CBNnews.com
