EARNINGS: ICTSI says Jan.-Sept. profit up 97% to $73M

Port operator International Container Terminal Services Inc. (ICTSI) on Thursday said its net income almost doubled in the first nine months of the year on the back of recovering global trade and a one-time gain from the sale of non-core assets. In a statement to the Philippine Stock Exchange, the firm led by businessman Enrique Razon Jr. said that its bottom line in January-September totaled $73 million, up 97 percent from what it made in the same period last year. “The higher net income was mainly caused by the upsurge in revenues, modest increase in cash operating expense, lower effective tax rate for the period, and a one-time gain on sale of non-core assets," ICTSI said in the statement. The port giant’s third-quarter earnings included gains from the sale of its 9.54-percent interest in Subic Shipyard and Engineering Inc. and its 8.56-percent stake in Consort Land Inc. It also included “a write-down of the value of certain property assets related to the company’s project in Buenaventura, Colombia," the company said. Stripping out the non-recurring profits, the company said its net income would have been up by 71 percent to $63.6 million. Revenues from port operations totaled $380.6 million in the nine-month period, up 27 percent. “We continue to see a strong growth trend in volumes and revenues across our portfolio of terminals. Our financial results for the first nine months of the year have exceeded the same period in 2008 — our previous record performance," ICTSI chairman and president Razon said in the statement. ICTSI is one of the world’s largest port operators and developers, with business interests in the Philippines as well as in Africa, Europe, Latin America, and other Asia Pacific countries. — With Jesse Edep/VS, GMANews.TV