Port operator Asian Terminals Inc. said Tuesday net income rose 14.8 percent in the third quarter from a year ago as signs of trade recovery continued amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
ATI said net income from July to September amounted to P812 million, up from P707 million in the same period last year.
Revenues, however, declined by 6.7 percent to P2.92 billion from P3.13 billion it posted in the third quarter of 2019.
ATI’s international gateway ports in Manila and Batangas handled over 360,000 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) in consolidated container volume in the third quarter, or 39 percent higher than the second quarter where volumes were heavily impacted by trade slowdown and economic lockdowns locally and globally because of the pandemic.
ATI’s third-quarter volume translated into a monthly average of over 120,000 TEUs, bringing it closer to pre-pandemic levels.
It said that revenues in the first three quarters reached P7.97 billion, while net income stood at P1.96 billion, down by 21.6 percent and 31.1 percent, respectively from the previous year, on account of lower container volumes.
“With the lifting of government restrictions and the calibrated opening up of the economy, we have seen an encouraging uptick in Philippine trade as reflected in the volumes we handled during the third quarter,” said ATI executive vice president William Khoury.
“Despite the global pandemic, we are optimistic of finishing the year on a respectable note driven by our Company’s resilience as we continue fulfilling our important mandate of enabling trade in the Philippines,” Khoury said.
