Chelsea Logistics Holdings, Inc. (CLHC) has reported a net loss of P550.533 million in 2018, wider than the P161.22 million loss reported in 2017.
CLHC, in a regulatory disclosure, attributed a significant portion of the loss to its share in the net losses for this year of 2GO Group, Inc., in which CLHC owns 28.15% indirect economic interest. Excluding the loss from 2GO, CLHC said net loss would have amounted to only P98 million, with the loss primarily due to higher bunkering costs and increased interest rates.
Revenues, on the other hand, increased 32% to P5.172 billion last year from P3.909 billion in 2017 as each business segment of the group showed profitability.
Revenue from tankering, which recorded the biggest share to the total, rose 43% to P1.746 billion in 2018 from P1.217 billion in 2017 due to higher freight rate charged for farther distance of port calls during the period. Similarly, revenue from the freight segment increased 23% to P1.709 billion from P1.387 billion with the acquisition of three freighters in November 2017.
Revenues from the passage segment climbed 25% to P969 million from P773 million, attributable to the operations of new vessels MV Starlite Eagle, MV Salve Regina, and MV Stella Del Mar.
Tugboat fees improved 28% to P334 million from P261 million due to the additional number of customers and higher number of port calls at Calaca Industrial Park where subsidiary Fortis Tug Corp is the exclusive tugboat service provider.
Revenue from logistics
Meanwhile, revenues from the logistics business, which accounted for 6% of the total, grew 20% to P287 million from P240 million previously as the group gained additional customers.
Cost of sales and services also increased significantly, mainly due to higher bunkering costs, crew salaries and employee benefits, and supplies. Bunkering costs during 2018 grew 43% due to the deployment of additional vessels and higher fuel prices. Charter hire costs were also higher by 145% due to the deliveries made by Chelsea Shipping Corp. (CSC) for Phoenix Petroleum Philippines, Inc.
Tapping the debt market
Last February, CLHC said it plans to raise P7 billion from the debt market to fund its expansion projects for this year.
CLHC said the target fund will mostly be used to develop a warehouse facility on a 2.5-hectare property in Taguig that will need about P2.5 billion to be completed, and to acquire delivery vehicles.
CLHC president and chief executive officer Chryss Alfonsus Damuy earlier said that once completed, the new facility’s capacity will be about seven times bigger than the existing warehousing capacity of CLHC through WorkLink Services, Inc., which it acquired in 2017.
CLHC is also building more container yards and buying more equipment after acquiring Trans-Asia Shipping Lines, Inc.
Through its two wholly owned subsidiaries, CSC and Trans-Asia, CLHC is engaged in the shipping transport business. Aside from 2GO, CLHC acquired Starlite Ferries, Inc. and WorkLink in 2017.
