ICTSI floating in cash, profit up double digits

MANILA, Philippines — Port operator International Container Terminal Services Inc. (ICTSI) booked more than $600 million in profit as of September, already breaching last year’s total as a result of higher revenue and new projects.

Based on its financial report, ICTSI’s net income rose by 31 percent to $632.58 million from January to September as revenue grew faster than expenses.

ICTSI earned $511.53 million for the whole of last year, which means it has already gone past that amount with still a quarter left in 2024.

ICTSI hiked its revenue by 14 percent to $2.01 billion in the nine months to September. The company attributed the income growth to better collection and tariff adjustments, receiving above expectation contribution from certain terminals.

However, ICTSI said revenues would have gone up a higher if not for the discontinuation of its Pakistan business and fluctuations in foreign exchange. In particular, ICTSI endured forex losses in its terminals in the Philippines, Brazil and Nigeria.

Still, the company managed to keep up with the resurgent activity in international trade, handling 9.6 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) as of September, from 9.45 million a year ago.

ICTSI said its P11-billion investment in the Visayas Container Terminal (VCT) is starting to pay off, as the facility is able to welcome more vessels through the upgrades made by the company.

In April, the VCT, formerly the Iloilo Commercial Port Complex, was handed over to the care of the ICTSI, which won the 25-year concession to manage one of the busiest ports in Visayas.

On the other hand, ICTSI said expenses rose by eight percent to $529.27 million during the nine-month period, triggered by the need to spend more to process the increase in cargo throughput. ICTSI has so far spent two-thirds, or $298.63 million, of the $450 million it allocated for capital expenditures this year.

As the year comes to a close, ICTSI chairman and president Enrique Razon Jr. said stakeholders can expect the company to keep the same strategy it has employed to grow. To date, ICTSI has a free cash flow amounting to $849 million, which can fund potential projects in the future.

“Our cash flow and balance sheet remain strong with the free cash flow up by 18 percent to $849 million, demonstrating we are financially robust and able to invest in new and existing projects to retain our position as the world’s largest independent port operator,” Razon said.

ICTSI is one of the biggest port operators in the world in the 50,000 to 3.5 million TEU per year range, managing projects in six continents.