ATI posts 26% income hike to P388 M

Asian Terminals Inc.(ATI), stifled by lethargic foreign trade in the Asia-Pacific region, rode on the crest of its expansive grains terminal and logistics businesses to boost its nine-month earnings this year.

Unfazed by the economic slowdown mainly due to the peso depreciation, ATI posted a 25.9-percent increase in consolidated net income from P308.3 million in 1999 to P388.1 million this year mainly due to its grains handling and logistics operations.

"In this environment, our ports cannot remain as simple transfer points between land and sea transportation," said ATI chief executive officer Richard Barclay. "We must continue to offer value-added services to shippers, and one way is by helping them manage their supply chain in synergy with our cargo-handling expertise."

Mariveles Grain Terminal (MGT) chalked up a 28.8-percent increase in its cargo-handling volume from 1.4 million metric tons in the same period last year to 1.803 million metric tons this year.

"Flour millers and livestock growers have achieved economies of scale as MGT can handle bigger grain vessels and turn them around in three to five days using modern conveyors and vast storage areas," ATI said in a statement.

Boosted by the importation of raw materials for the Malampaya offshore plant, the Batangas port posted a 66.1-percent increase in non-containerized cargo volume from 205,352 metric tons in the same period last year to 341,176 metric tons this year.

Aries Arrastre Service, an ATI subsidiary, recognized by other Calabarzon firms, boasts of an absence of a truck ban and a brand-new highway, the Southern Tagalog Access Road (STAR), both of which make the transportation of goods more efficient.

The ATI-run Batangas Passenger Terminal recorded an eight-percent increase in passenger volume from 1, 374, 635 passengers in the same period last year to 1, 486, 635 passengers this year.

With the volume of imported goods rising as the Christmas season nears, ATI posted a 12.1-percent increase in containerized cargo volume in South Harbor from 387, 627 TEUs in the same period in 1999 to 434, 456 TEU’s this year. Non-containerized cargo, on the other hand, dropped 6.5 percent from 3.89 million metric tons to 3.64 metric tons. – Rommel Ynion