Asian Terminals Inc. allocates P14.7B for capital investment in 2019

Asian Terminals Inc. (ATI) on Wednesday reported a capital expenditure of P14.7 billion this year, mainly to finance the development of more berths and storage spaces in Manila and Batangas.

In a statement, ATI said its capital investment will also be used for additional container yards outside the port zones, acquire more cargo handling equipment, and in further innovations.

This comes as the company in 2018 posted double-digit growth in its net income, on the back of record cargo volumes handled by its ports in Manila and Batangas during the period.

ATI reported that its net income grew 15.8 percent to P2.9 billion last year versus the P2.5 billion the company recorded in 2017.

Revenues were likewise up by 15.8 percent to P12.3 billion from P10.6 billion, also driven by higher volumes of international containerized cargoes.

Most of these were handled by ATI's international gateway ports such as the Manila South Harbor and the Batangas Container Terminal, which handled a combined container throughput of over 1.4 million twenty-foot equivalent units (teus).

The Manila South Harbor reported a 6-percent growth in international boxed cargoes handled at 1.3 million teus, while the Batangas Container Terminal handled nearly 250,000 teus, up by 25 percent from the previous year. —KBK, GMA News