Bruce Barnard, Special Correspondent | Sep 17, 2012 9:58AM EDT
Global Ports’ revenues and profits declined in the first half of the year as lower traffic at its Estonian oil terminal and Finnish ports outweighed higher container volume at its domestic Russian terminals.
The company, in which APM Terminals acquired a 37.5 percent stake last week, posted revenues of $255.7 million, against $259.7 million in the first half of 2011, while net profit dipped 12 percent to $72.5 million from $82.4 million.
Operating profit fell 12 percent to $111.2 million, and adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization were unchanged at $145 million.
The London-listed group boosted container traffic by 6 percent to approximately 709,000 20-foot equivalent units, to consolidate its position as Russia’s biggest container stevedore with a 30 percent market share.
Terminals in the Russian ports of St. Petersburg and Vostochny booked revenue of $171.9 million, or 66 percent of total sales. The oil products unit contributed $77.3 million, for a 30 percent share, and the Finnish ports of Helsinki and Kotka, $10.5 million.
“We continue to expand our business and will commission more than twenty percent of additional container capacity in the first half of 2013,” said Nikita Mishin, Chairman of Global Ports.
“The long-term prospects for the container market in Russia post WTO access are considered extremely promising, and I believe that Global Ports, with its combination of well-invested assets in the right locations, has all the necessary components to be able to maximize the opportunities for growth that the market offers.”
APM Terminals, the port operating arm of Denmark’s A.P. Moller-Maersk, expects to close on its $860 million acquisition of 50 percent of Russian private transport group N-Trans’ 75 percent stake in Global Port by the end of the year.
The deal will leave each company with a 37.5 percent stake, with the outstanding 25 percent publicly traded as global depository receipts in London, where Global Ports listed in 2011.
Contact Bruce Barnard at brucebarnard47@hotmail.com.
