MANILA: ICTSI, which is the Philippines’ biggest private port operator has become the sole owner of the company that runs the container terminals in Melbourne, Australia.
In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, International Container Terminal Services Inc (ICTSI) said a share sale agreement between ICTSI Far East Pte Ltd and Anglo Ports Pty Ltd takes effect today.
The agreement involves ICTSI Far East’s acquisition of a 10-percent stake held by Anglo Ports in Victoria International Container Terminal Ltd (VICT).
As a result of the sale, ICTSI Far East increased its stake in VICT from 90 percent to 100 percent. The 10 percent stake was valued at 750,000 Australian dollars.
In May last year, VICT signed an agreement with the Port of Melbourne Corporation for the design, construction, commissioning, operation, maintenance and financing of the Port of Melbourne’s new international container terminal and empty container park at Webb Dock.
The contract grants VICT the right to design build and operate the new terminal at Webb Dock and design, build and operate the new, on-port Empty Container Park at Webb Dock East.
The lease concession extends to 2040.
Owned by billionaire Enrique Razon, ICTSI earned $135.7 million in the first nine months of last year, up 5 percent from $128.8 million in the same period in 2013.
Nine-month revenues amounted to $779.2 million, up 25 percent from the previous year’s $624.7 million. In the third quarter alone, ICTSI’s top line was 27 percent higher at $268.9 million.
The company handled consolidated volume of 5,410,224 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU), 17 percent more than the 4,628,117 TEUs handled in the same period in 2013.