MANILA, Philippines — The country’s largest listed firm, International Container Terminal Services Inc. (ICTSI), is set for further expansion after borrowing $1 billion from the biggest local bank.
In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, ICTSI said it has signed a 10-year, $1-billion loan with BDO Unibank Inc. to boost its capital for future expansion.
ICTSI took the loan ahead of expansion projects it has planned in the Philippines and abroad. As one of the world’s biggest port operators, ICTSI strengthens its portfolio by adding new terminals.
On top of this, the company is hiking the capacity of existing projects to meet future demand. In July, ICTSI secured a 25-year extension for its concession on the Manila International Container Terminal (MICT), pushing the expiry to 2063, from 2038.
In exchange, ICTSI must complete the expansion of MICT’s Berth 8, a project that would make it capable of handling the largest container vessels of up to 18,000 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs).
Once Berth 8 is expanded, MICT will increase yearly capacity to 3.5 million TEUs, allowing it to process more shipments at a quicker pace.
Overseas, ICTSI has lined up infrastructure expansion for its terminals in Brazil, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Mexico.
Given its logistics business, ICTSI had to deal with the economic risks inflicted by geopolitical tensions in the Middle East. In response, it rolled out multiple measures to cope with price hikes, such as tariff increases and traffic redirection.
ICTSI chairman and president Enrique Razon Jr. said the company also leans on the diversity of its portfolio to stay afloat. Combined, these factors enabled ICTSI to grow first half profit by 22 percent to $589.98 million, from $483.84 million a year ago.
ICTSI’s consolidated volume went up by 16 percent to 8.12 million TEUs, lifted by the addition of Indonesian and South African projects.
For 2026, ICTSI is spending $740 million on capital expenditures, of which $320.05 million has been used up in the first half.