ATI net income jumps 24% in 1st 9 months

Listed port operator Asian Terminals Inc. (ATI) reaped the benefits of increased trade activities in the country as well as its own expansion and modernization program to post improved financial numbers in the first nine months of 2002.

In a statement to the Philippine Stock Exchange, ATI said it kept pace with the momentum gained from the expansion and development of its ports and logistics facilities and services to register a 24-percent increase in its net income to P446.1 million during the nine-month period.

ATI also attributed the improvement in earnings to the reduced borrowings and significant drop in interest rates, keeping its expenses in check. As of end-September, ATI’s total liabilities had dwindled by 2.6 percent to P3.8 billion as it was able to cut down on its long term obligations by 25.6 percent to P1.3 billion despite a 17-percent rise in current liabilities to P2.5 billion.

Just last month, the South Harbor-based port operator secured a P600-million loan from the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corp. (HSBC) for the funding of its capital expenditures and refinancing of its existing debt.

The five-year loan facility will support its major project, a P100-million passenger shipping terminal that would form part of a 10-year modernization program in the Manila Bay area.

The company is pursuing a large-scale development of the South Harbor to include the expansion of the international container handling capacity and the construction of the new domestic passenger terminal and freight handling facilities. Of this year’s programmed capital expenditures of P491 million, ATI has allotted 85 percent for these works.

On the revenue side, ATI reported a four-percent increase to P2.6 billion as all its seaports contributed to the steady stream of cargo handling.

Aside from the South Harbor, ATI operates three other international seaports in the Philippines: the Port of Batangas, the Mariveles Grain Terminal in Bataan, and the joint venture Port of General Santos in South Cotabato.