ATI girds for world trade boom

Publicly listed port and logistics firm Asian Terminals Inc. (ATI) is girding for the continued growth of world trade in 2001, following a strong performance in 2000 in which IT maximized the synergy between its cargo handling and supply chain management business.

"ATI is ideally positioned to take advantage of the growth in world trade," said new ATI chairman Capt. Roger Davies during the company’s annual stockholders meeting yesterday. "Global container traffic has grown by nearly 10 percent annually in the last decade. This momentum should continue as barriers to trade are reduced and an increasing proportion of goods becomes containerized."

The ATI board declared a cash dividend of eight and a half centavos (P.085) per share, or a total of P170 million, to stockholders of record as of May 25, 2001. Payment will be made on or before June 22, 2001.

ATI had earlier announced a 2000 consolidated net income of P541 million from revenues of P2.9 billion for a 29 percent and 14 percent growth, respectively, from 1999 results. Better operating results in 2000 further strengthened ATI’s financial condition. Total liabilities decreased by P87 million, resulting in an improved debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97:1.00 from 1.11:1.00 of end-1999. Stockholders’ equity rose 11 percent to P3.8 billion as retained earnings grew 32 percent compared to last year. Cargo volumes went up in all four ATI-operated terminals: Manila South Harbor, Port of Batangas, Port of General Santos, and Mariveles Grain Terminal. ATI’s commercial logistics business, on the other hand, contributed 12 percent to consolidated revenues.

Davies reaffirmed ATI’s long-term commitment to invest in the modernization and expansion of key Philippine ports. He urged the government to give emphasis to landslide infrastructure to complement the company’s port investments. "Manila being among the top 20 ports in the world, the attention to investment in highways is fundamental for the distribution of goods and services between ports," he stressed.

The board named Davies as chairman, replacing Capt. Richard Setchell who served for more than a decade. Davies is a member of the board of major ATI shareholder P&O Australia Ltd. Setchell will remain as a company director. The board also elected Eusebio H. Tanco vice chairman, ATI CEO Richard D. Barclay as president, Arturo P. Lopez as treasurer and Rodolfo G. Corvite Jr., as corporate secretary. The other board members are Setchell, Ramon R. Atayde, Genya Iwasaki, Douglas L. LuYm and Nilo B. Pena. A new member of the board is Remy T. Tigulo, who is president of SB Capital Investment Corp.