HPH Trust’s Profit Drops as Volumes Rise in 2017

February 6, 2018

Singapore-listed container port business trust Hutchison Port Holdings Trust (HPH Trust) ended 2017 with a drop in earnings, while volumes continued rising.

The company’s profit for the year ended December 31, 2017, plunged by 24.9 percent to HKD 2.21 billion, compared to a profit of HKD 2.95 billion reported in 2016. Revenue and other income for the year was HKD 11.5 billion, representing a drop of 3 percent compared to HKD 11.9 billion seen a year earlier.

Combined container throughput of Hongkong International Terminals Limited (HIT), COSCO-HIT Terminals and Asia Container Terminals Limited (ACT) (collectively HPHT Kwai Tsing) increased by 5.1 percent as compared to the same period in 2016, primarily due to higher transshipment cargoes and additional throughput from a new customer.

The container throughput of Yantian International Container Terminals (YICT) increased by 8.6 percent as compared to the same period in 2016, primarily driven by growth in the US and transshipment cargoes.

Average revenue per TEU for Hong Kong and China was below last year mainly attributed to greater volume of concessions offered to certain liners, as well as, certain revisions on tariffs following the mergers and acquisitions of some liners.

In addition, China’s average revenue per TEU was also adversely impacted by higher transshipment mix.

For the fourth quarter of 2017, ended December 31, HPH Trust recorded a drop of 16.2 percent in its profit, which was at HKD 601.4 million, against a profit of HKD 717.4 million seen in the same three months of 2016. Revenue and other income for the quarter was HKD 2.8 billion, 3.4 percent lower than HKD 2.9 billion in last year’s fourth quarter.

Combined container throughput of HIT, COSCO-HIT and ACT increased by 0.9 percent as compared to the same quarter in 2016, due to higher transshipment cargoes but offset by weaker in intra-Asia cargoes.

The container throughput of YICT increased by 10.6 percent as compared to the same quarter in 2016, driven by growth in the US and transshipment cargoes.