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NeNaCo: Shipping firms to raise rates this year


Shipping companies will raise their cargo and passenger rates this year to help them cope with the rising costs of oil, the industry’s largest player said Wednesday. A wave of revolutions in the Middle East and North Africa have pulled up oil prices lately. Sulficio Tagud Jr., president and CEO of Negros Navigation Co. Inc. (NeNaCo), explained that one way shipping firms may raise fees is to reclaim the discounts they have implemented last year. Tagud said that slashing the discounts – which had brought shipping rates to 40 percent below the approved tariffs – will not require shipping companies to apply for increases with regulator Maritime Industry Authority. Negros Navigation has become the Philippines’ largest shipping group after it bought its top rival, Aboitiz Transport Systems Corp., from the Cebu-based Aboitiz family for over P4 billion. Tagud described Aboitiz as five times bigger than Negros Navigation. The Negros Navigation CEO said the group expects to post P15.5 billion in consolidated revenues this year, up from P14 billion last year, and a net income of about P1 billion from a net loss of P500 million. To reach its financial goals, Tagud said the company will spend P2.5 billion to expand its logistics business 2GO, an Aboitiz brand. “There’s still a lot of potential for growth in that area," he said. — PE/VS

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