LORENZO Shipping Corp (LSC) is reviving its refleeting program despite a less-than-positive business outlook due to lingering effects of the global economic crisis and persistent cargo-handling problems at the North Harbor.
The all-cargo carrier temporarily shelved its vessel acquisition plans at the height of the global recession in the latter part of 2008.
LSC chair Doris Magsaysay-Ho said the company marked its refleeting with the acquisition of a vessel which had double the capacity (799 TEUs) than what was originally planned.
“Fleet renewal and upgrading is a major goal of LSC this year,” Magsaysay said at the sidelines of the company’s annual stockholders meeting yesterday. No details were given on the number of vessels for acquisition.
“Aside from the vessels that the company will acquire, we have also started acquiring software systems that will be rolled out by next month through early next year to help us improve our collections through faster billing, do better decision-making and problem solving through faster processing of accounting and management reports,” Magsaysay said.
Specifically, LSC purchased software expected to improve slot cost computation, voyage revenue, cost reporting and cargo stowage, among others.
North Harbor mess
The current chaos at the North Harbor is, however, negatively affecting operations, pulling down both productivity and profitability, Magsaysay-Ho said.
She added the lack of cargo-handling equipment at the port and proper processes have led to much confusion, low vessel productivity and lost trips.
“We are exploring all possible solutions to manage this development,” Magsaysay said.
“To be clear, LSC is in favor of the government and industry’s vision of modernizing the country’s busiest port but it is unfortunate that proper planning and execution remain to be seen.”
In the first quarter of the year, LSC’s net income jumped 34% to P28.17 million from P21.04 million in the same period last year.
Operating expenses inched up 0.2% or by P626,487 from last year as a result of high fuel cost and amortization of drydocking charges.
