MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) recorded a double-digit drop in its profit in nine months to September as expenses went up by more than half due to the upgrade of old facilities.
Based on its financial statement, PPA’s net income fell by 14 percent to P6.28 billion from January and September. Although revenue increased by 28 percent to P20.06 billion, its costs ballooned by 56 percent to P12.18 billion, two-thirds of which were non-cash expenses.
The increase in non-cash expenses are expected since PPA is undertaking a string of port upgrades across the archipelago. This means the agency is covering the depreciation cost of the infrastructure it is improving.
In spite of this, PPA is seeing port traffic going up in the cargo and passenger segments. With this, the agency is on track to achieve its target of growing port volume by 7.5 percent.
Broken down, cargo throughput in ports has increased by seven percent to 218.28 million metric tons (MMT) as of September, from 203.51 MMT a year ago.
PPA also said container traffic rose by three percent to 5.72 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs), buoyed by resurgent trade even as economic risks abound.
Shippers are wary of the geopolitical tensions in Europe and the Middle East, where vessels have to pass through to transport goods.
As for passenger movement in ports, traffic increased by 10 percent to 60.47 million in January to September, from 54.83 million a year ago. Passenger volume in roll on, roll off (RORO) ships grew by eight percent to 8.61 million, still lifted by travel demand in the pandemic aftermath.
For the year, PPA wants to complete 29 projects, amounting to P8.65 billion, that would scale up provincial capacity for cargo and passenger movement. Included in this is the delivery of nine ramps for RORO vessels and close to 4,000 seats for travelers.
Moreover, PPA is working on improving its revenue collection to raise its net income, half of which is remitted annually to the Bureau of the Treasury as mandated under Republic Act 7656 or the Dividends Law.
In 2023, PPA handed over a record P5.06 billion to the Treasury, making it one of the biggest contributors among state-run firms.