Westports Holdings Bhd, operator of Westports terminal at Port Klang in Malaysia, registered a higher pre-tax profit of RM159.6 million (US$44.8 million) in its first quarter ended March 31, 2015 compared with RM131.63 million recorded in the same period last year.
In a statement, Westports said the higher pre-tax profit was mainly aided by improved operational efficiency and lower fuel cost, according to a report by Bernama, Malaysia’s national news agency.
“Revenue for the quarter rose to RM398.72 million from RM363.15 million in the same period last year while earnings per share rose to 3.5 sen from 3.2 sen,” Westports said.
Chief executive officer Ruben Emir Gnanalingam said Westports achieved a container throughput growth of 17% to 2.26 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) in the quarter.
“Its container operations accomplished a historical high of handling 794,600 TEUs in March 2015, supported by increased capacity from the newly completed Container Terminal 7,” he added.
To manage the increasing container volume, the operator has begun the first phase of expansion of its Container Terminal 8, expected to be completed in early 2016. The second phase has a completion schedule of mid-2017, Gnanalingam said.
Once expansion work is completed, Container Terminal 8 could handle up to 13.5 million TEUs from the current 11 million TEUs.
