CORONAVIRUS contributed to an 18% slump in net income in the first quarter of the 2020 calendar year for logistics giant International Container Terminal Services.
ICTSI is one of the world’s largest stevedoring operations and its terminals include VICT at Webb Dock and Motukea in Papua New Guinea.
According to a statement released by the company, ICTSI first quarter net income reflected the impact of the pandemic, down 18% to US$59.6m.
Other information included:
- Throughput rose 1% to 2.5m TEU
- Revenue fell 2% to US$375.8m
- BITDA fell 5% to US$212.2m.
ICTSI chairman and president Enrique K. Razon Jr said the pandemic was having, and would continue to have, devastating effects.
Mr Razon said the company had acted to both protect its people and strengthen the business, while acknowledging its impact.
“The effect of the virus was felt in the latter part of the first quarter, and our volumes compared to the previous year were largely flat,” he said.
“Regions are at different stages of the viral outbreak, which is reflected in our portfolio performance: Asia delivered lower volumes compared to the previous year while the EMEA and Americas segments both still registered positive volume growth for the quarter.
“However, the latter two regions showed signs of weakness in March.”
Mr Razon talked of “significant measures” to reduce their cost base, while seeking ways to increase market share. The company’s Melbourne operation recently underwent a significant restructure in its staffing arrangements.
ICTSI reported consolidated volume of 2,508,986TEU for the quarter ended March 31, 2020, 1% more than the 2,478,672 TEU handled in the same period in 2019.
The slight increase in volume was primarily due to the contribution of a new terminal in Rio de Janeiro in Brazil.
