ICTSI eyes $1.6-B Melbourne port project

MANILA, Philippines - Publicly-held International Container Terminal Services Inc. (ICTSI) has tied up anew with Australia-based Anglo Ports to launch a bid for the third $1.6-billion international container terminal project in Melbourne.

The tandem of ICTSI and Anglo Ports has partnered with two other companies to form the Australian International Container Terminals (AICL) to bring extensive sector expertise to the project spanning container terminal development, operations, and logistics chain know-how.

The Port of Melbourne Corp. (PoMC) in Australia has shortlisted four groups for the bidding that is scheduled sometime in September this year.

Aside from AICL, other groups shortlisted are the group of CMA CGM, ANL Container Line and Macquarie Specialised Asset Management; Hutchison Port Holdings; and Qube Holdings.

The winner that would bag the contract for the new terminal located at Melbourne’s Webb Dock East covering about 30 hectares of waterfront, a utility ‘off-dock’ area and a container facility is expected to be announced early 2014.

The consortium of ICTSI and Anglo Ports was also short-listed in the new Brisbane and Port Botany third container terminal bidding processes.

ICTSI is one of the pioneers of taking its container terminal expertise overseas and now manages and operates a portfolio of 27 marine terminals in 19 countries. It has a market cap in excess of $4 billion and in 2013 is expected to handle over five million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs).

The company’s net income rose 15 percent to $40.7 million from January to March this year compared to $35.4 million in the same period last year while revenue from port operations jumped 20 percent to $209.3 million from $173.8 million.

ICTSI attributed the increase to the 12 percent rise in consolidated volume handled to 1.496 million 20-foot equivalent units (TEUs) in the first quarter of the year from 1.338 TEUs handled in the same period last year. It has terminal operations in Manila, Brazil, Poland, Ecuador, Madagascar, China, and Pakistan.

It recently raised P8.19 billion from the sale of shares to partly fund its capital expenditures amounting to $550 million this year. Early this year, the company through its ICTSI Treasury BV raised $400 million as part of its $750 million medium term note program to fund expansion programs.