PPA props up profit to P5 billion in 6 months

MANILA, Philippines — State-run Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) improved its profitability in the first semester of the year as it gained from the domestic and global recovery in freight and passenger volumes.

The PPA yesterday said it sustained its growth momentum in the six months to June, improving its net income by nine percent to P5.02 billion, from P4.61 billion in the same period a year ago.

The agency added that it exceeded by a hefty 24 percent its P4.06-billion target for the period. Also, its net income stood just 13 percent below its pre-pandemic level, a sharp reversal of the 50 percent decline it suffered in 2020.

In the first half, revenue increased by 14 percent to P9.44 billion as almost all income sources of the agency posted upswings. On the other hand, expenses rose by 21 percent to P4.41 billion given the additional costs the PPA shouldered with the resurgence in container and travel activities.

According to the PPA, concession fees and other income registered the highest growth, at more than six-fold. Further, the agency overseeing port development reported a 55 percent jump in its storage collection and a 28 percent spike in domestic dockage.

However, the PPA said revenue from layup operations and interest income declined the most, by 93 percent and 87 percent, respectively.

The PPA has been expanding its revenue by at least nine percent in the last 18 months as it tries to recoup the losses it forfeited to the repeated lockdowns at the height of the pandemic in 2020.

From January to June, cargo throughput facilitated by the PPA dipped by one percent to 125.49 million metric tons (MMT), from 127.34 MMT a year ago. Export volume dropped by 14 percent, dragging foreign cargo by six percent.

On the other hand, containerized cargo recovered by three percent to 3.73 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs), carried by the six percent growth in imported boxes but mitigated by the two percent decline in domestic volume.

Passenger volume, for its part, more than doubled as the government eased most COVID restrictions under Alert Level 1 to benefit travel and tourism.