Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) is selling its 15% stake in Subic Bay International Terminal Corp (SBITC), the company that operates the freeport’s New Container Terminal-1 (NCT-1).
SBMA chair Feliciano Salonga, in a recent interview, said SBMA being a government entity does not want a stake in a private business venture.
SBMA has offered to sell its stake to International Container Terminal Services Inc. (ICTSI) and Royal Port Services Inc, the other owners of SBITC. Both declined.
ICTSI owns 83.33% of SBITC and Royal Port, 16.67%.
SBMA declined to say how much it was willing to sell its stake for.
“We have long been offering our 15% stake to them, but they don’t want to buy it,” Salonga explained.
During the previous SBMA dispensations of Felicito Payumo and Richard Gordon, many companies wanted to wrest control of the Subic port operations.
“We took the stake to unite the erring companies,” Salonga said.
“SBMA is not involved in the direct management of the company. I just sit in the board because I’m the chairman of SBMA. But they manage it,” he said.
According to Securities and Exchange Commission documents, SBMA has P24 million in paid-up capital in SBITC, which in turn has a total property book value of P135.65 million, including cargo-handling equipment.
Every year, SBMA has a share in the gross revenue that SBITC earns. In 2005, SBMA collected P9.53 million and in 2006, P11.29 million.
SBMA’s stake is worth more in the future since the agency is expecting container traffic to increase to up to 150,000 TEUs by end 2008 then to 250,000 TEUs by next year.
Last year, SBITC handled 34,889 TEUs, up from the previous volume of 31,238 TEUs.
As of April last year, SBITC’s board included Salonga as chairman; Francisco Delgado III, vice chairman; Armand Arreza; Enrique K. Razon Jr.; Vivien V. Minana; Edgardo Abesamis; Noel M. Mirasol, and Francis M. Andrews.
