zoomImage Courtesy: ICTSI

Manila-based container terminal operator International Container Terminal Services, Inc. (ICTSI) has seen its net income attributable to equity holders surge to USD 180 million in 2016 from USD 58.5 million earned in 2015, representing a jump of 207 percent.

The company’s revenue from port operations increased by 7 percent to USD 1.128 billion in 2016 from USD 1.051 billion reported in 2015.

The rise was attributed to improvement in trade activities at most of the Philippine terminals resulting to volume growth, new contracts with shipping lines and services at the terminals in Indonesia, Pakistan, Ecuador and Mexico, and tariff rate adjustments at certain terminals, among other factors.

In 2016, ICTSI handled a consolidated volume of 8.68 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) for the year ended December 31, 2016, up by 12 percent compared to 7.77 million TEUs handled in 2015. The volume was mainly driven by a continuing volume ramp-up at ICTSI Iraq, the terminal in Umm Qasr, Iraq, new shipping lines and services at Contecon Manzanillo S.A. (CMSA) in Manzanillo, Mexico, Contecon Guayaquil S.A. (CGSA) in Guayaquil, Ecuador, and the terminals in Indonesia, according to ICTSI.

Improvement in trade activities in Madagascar International Container Terminal Services, Ltd. (MICTSL) in Toamasina, Madagascar, Adriatic Gate Container Terminal (AGCT) in Rijeka, Croatia and in most of the Philippine terminals also contributed to the rise in volume.

For the quarter ended December 31, 2016, total consolidated throughput was 12 percent higher at 2.25 million TEUs compared to 2 million TEUs in the same period in 2015, while the company’s revenue increased by 13 percent to USD 293.4 million from USD 259.3 million in the respective periods.

Earlier in March, the company said that its Manila International Container Terminal (MICT) is preparing to service the largest containerships in the intra-Asia trade as the facility will expand its capacity with five post-Panamax quay cranes.

The first three cranes from the batch, capable of servicing up to 13,000-TEU boxships, are scheduled for delivery by 2018, while the remaining two would be delivered in 2019.

The order comes on the back of the terminal’s two-million TEU milestone reached in 2016, which triggered a PHP multi-billion capacity improvement commitment with the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA).