PPA profit surges to P7.4 billion in 2024

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) hiked its profit by 26 percent to breach the P7-billion mark anew, arming it with enough resources to increase dividends to the government.

Based on its financial report, the PPA said its net income grew by more than a fourth to P7.4 billion in 2024, from P5.88 billion in 2023, as revenue expanded at a pace faster than expenses.

Revenue, including gains, spiked by eight percent to P27.53 billion, while expenses increased by six percent to P17.66 billion.

PPA general manager Jay Santiago said he is more than certain now that his agency would turn in to the Bureau of the Treasury its highest dividends in history. The PPA has a history of remitting over half of its net income to the Treasury. In 2023, it remitted P5.06 billion, which was 86 percent of its profit.

“There is no mandated dividend percentage (this year) except for the minimum 50 percent of the net income, but I think we will exceed our 2023 dividends,” Santiago told The STAR.

Between 2016 and 2023, the regulator of local ports has remitted P30.97 billion to the Treasury in line with its mandate as a state-run firm.

This has made the PPA one of the most reliable government-owned and controlled corporations (GOCCs) in terms of dividends, joining the league of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. and the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp.

Under Republic Act 7656, or the Dividends Law, GOCCs are mandated to remit at least half of their annual profit to the government. Dividends are listed as non-tax revenues, which are used to fund priority programs on infrastructure and livelihood.

For the PPA, raising its revenue and profit also means that it has sufficient capital to explore new projects and complete existing ones. One of the PPA’s biggest projects this year is the completion of the P620.64 million dedicated terminal for cruise vessels in Siargao.

The PPA recorded its highest revenue in history in 2024, thanks to the continued recovery of the logistics industry, lifted by a 17 percent spike in wharfage dues on increased exports and imports.

Further, the agency monetized some of its high-value assets by turning over their operations and maintenance to the private sector like the P10.53 billion concession awarded to the International Container Terminal Services Inc. for the upgrade of the Iloilo Commercial Port Complex.