ATI taps P500-M Security Bank credit facility

Port operator Asian Terminals Inc. (ATI) signed yesterday an agreement with Security Bank for a three-year revolving credit facility amounting to P500 million.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, ATI said the money will be used to fund working capital requirements.

ATI reported a 79-percent growth in its net profit in 2005 to P663.62 million from P370.89 million in 2004, mainly on higher revenues and the improvement in cost management.

Consolidated revenues rose 14 percent to P4.08 billion compared with P3.58 billion a year earlier. Revenues from operations went up 5.8 percent to P3.28 billion from P2.83 billion, primarily due to higher contributions from the South Harbor international container and domestic terminal operations.

Revenues from South Harbor international container operations rose 17.8 percent on account of favorable container mix, enhancement in ancilliary services and increase in tariff rates.

Revenues from non-ports business contributed to the improvement in results by its 7.5- percent growth due mainly to higher volumes.

As volume and operational level increased, consolidated costs and expenses also grew but by only three percent to P2.75 billion from P2.67 billion, due to increases in fuel and utility costs.

ATI has also invested P223.8 million in port facilities and equipment.

As of end-2005, ATI’s consolidated liabilities amounted to P5.04 billion or slightly higher than the previous year’s P5 billion.

ATI manages the South Harbor Port of Manila. Its major competitor on the container business is International Container Terminal Services Inc. which operates the Manila International Container Terminal and on the non-containerized business, Harbour Centre, which operates a private commercial port at the northern end of the Manila North Harbor.

At the Port of Batangas, Luzon’s busiest port after Manila, ATI’s subsidiary (ATI Batangas Inc.) competes for cargo volume with private port operators PNOC-EB and Farmix and with ICTSI, which operates the Bauan International Port Inc.

ATI Batangas is the only terminal that handles containerized, roll on-roll off and passenger traffic in Batangas.