THE Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) posted a net income of P914.4 million for the first two months of the year, up 5.96% from P863 million it made year-on-year.
The net income was also 20.53% higher than its P758.66-million target for the period.
The agency, however, failed to meet its port revenue target for the first two months of the year, despite cargo volume increasing nearly 8%.
Revenues from port operation amounted to P1.367 billion, 0.37% or P5.02 million short of the P1.372-billion target. This despite the increase in total cargo throughput by 1.94 million metric tons (mmt) or 7.67% to 27.304 mmt, compared with the 25.359 mmt for the same period last year.
However, port revenues were 2.51% or P33.45 million higher by than the previous year’s P1.334 billion.
PPA collects wharfage, shares from arrastre and stevedoring charges, port dues, income from roll-on, roll-off (RoRo) terminal fees, usage fees, berthing and anchorage charges, as well as earnings from other income groups.
Fund management income was P28.74 million, down 39.11% or P18.46 million from the P47.2 million earned in the same period a year earlier.
“This was due to higher operating expenses resulting in less short-term investments of available funds earmarked for still unincurred expenditure items this year,” the report showed.
Total expenses declined by P36.41 million or 7.02% to P482.03 million from the previous year’s P518.44 million and significantly lower than the P624.84 million target. Non-operating expenses such as depreciation and financial charges dropped to P55.38 million from the previous year’s P96.10 million and were below the P56 million target this year.
Operating expenses totaled P426.65 million, well below the P568.84 million target, yet exceeding the previous year’s figure of P422.34 million due largely to accelerated spending on repair and maintenance projects.
Batangas was the top performer among the 24 port management offices (PMOs) in terms of cargo volume handled in the first two months. The port handled 3.51 mmt, representing 12.86% of the total cargo throughput nationwide.
“This was made possible by the very encouraging performance of the private ports which handled 3.17 mmt or 90% of the PMO cargo throughput,” the PPA said.
The PMO North Harbor came in second, posting 3.02 mmt of cargo. The Limay and San Fernando PMOs performed well, notching 2.76 mmt and 2 mmt, respectively.
The Manila International Container Terminal (MICT) remains in the topmost slot, handling 3.11 mmt or 11.39% of the entire cargo throughput nationwide.
Running second was North Harbor with 2.20 mt or 73% of the entire volume of cargo handled by the PMO. Other baseports with less than 1 million metric tons but above 500,000 mt of cargo volume were South Harbor, Davao and Cagayan de Oro.
