ICTSI to operate Okinawa port by 2006

Port operator International Container Terminal Services Inc. (ICTSI), through unit Naha International Container Terminal Inc. (NICTI), will operate a port in Okinawa, Japan, according to a company disclosure filed with securities regulators.

ICTSI said NICTI has been authorized by the Naha Port Authority to operate the Naha Port Public International Container Terminal in Okinawa.

An agreement for the project is expected to be signed in January next year. Established in Japan, NICTI is a joint venture between ICTSI and six stevedoring companies operating in the Naha Port.

NICTI is expected to start operating the Naha terminals in January 2006, when all regulatory approvals would have been obtained.

To ensure continued growth, ICTSI is looking at possible port projects in Eastern Europe, Africa and the Middle East.

ICTSI has experience in operating eight terminals on five continents since it first became involved in international operations in the early 1990s. Its flagship container terminal, the Manila International Container Terminal (MICT), handles in excess of one million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) per annum.

ICTSI reported a 147 percent jump in its net profit for the first nine months of this year to P791 million, driven by increased volumes and the improving profitability of its three main terminals in the Philippines, Brazil and Poland.

In the third quarter alone, ICTSI posted a net income of P345.2 million or more than three times the previous level’s P97.9 million.

It registered incremental earnings of P247 million, mainly coming from its foreign subsidiaries Baltic Container Terminal Ltd. in Poland and Tecon Suape S.A. in Brazil.

Consolidated revenues for the nine-month period ending September this year grew 25 percent to P6.61 billion or 25 percent higher than the P5.29 billion reported last year. MICT revenues, which account for 65 percent of total revenues, increased by eight percent during the period.

Revenues from foreign subsidiaries BCT and TSSA account for 33 percent of consolidated revenues. Group-wide volume at the close of September was 1.41 million TEUs, an increase of 17 percent over last year’s volume of 1.2 million TEUs. The higher volumes handled and the consolidation of strong revenue growth from BCT and TSSA resulted in improved consolidated revenues for the third quarter of P2.39 billion, 28 percent up from P1.87 billion last year.

Third quarter consolidated volume handled in the third quarter totaled 481,453 TEUs, 22 percent higher than last year’s volume of 395,913 TEUs. The MICT handled 330,751 TEUs during the quarter, up 16 percent from last year’s volume of 284,270 TEUs.