Listed Philippine company Asian Terminals Inc. (ATI), operator of Manila South Harbor and Batangas Port, reported a net income of P1.43 billion for the first three quarters of 2016, or 9.1% higher than the P1.31 billion posted during the same period last year.
In a regulatory disclosure, ATI said revenues for the nine-month period reached P6.80 billion, representing a 10.8% growth from P6.13 billion during the same period in 2015.
ATI said the increase was brought about by higher international container volumes at Manila South Harbor and Batangas Container Terminal, and greater volume of international roll-on/roll-off cargoes, particularly completely built cars, at Batangas Port.
The port operator added that excluding foreign exchange losses attributable to port concession rights payable, net income would be P1.55 billion for the first nine months of 2016, 13.9% higher than the P1.36 billion for the same period last year.
In September, Manila South Harbor made history when it handled over 100,000 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) of international containers for the first time in a single month, breaking the two previous record volumes it set earlier this year—over 94,000 TEUs in May and more than 95,000 TEUs in June.
Despite the significant spike in volume, Manila South Harbor’s production has averaged above the industry standard of 25 gross moves per crane per hour (GMPH), said ATI. The terminal even recorded world-class levels of over 30 GMPH over several months, which are comparable to the production of leading global ports in Dubai, Singapore, and Hong Kong.
Production is measured by how many containers a crane moves from ship to shore per hour. Higher GMPH reflects efficient handling of containers at berth, which redounds to the faster turnaround of ships and trucks, and ultimately quicker delivery of goods to consignees.
ATI also cites the Terminal Appointment Booking System, an online scheduling facility for the orderly delivery and pull-out of containers at the terminal, for fast-tracking transactions at Manila’s international gateway ports without causing heavy traffic on roads.
