HPH Trust Q3 profit down to $129m
Singapore-listed Hutchison Port Holdings Trust (HPH Trust) recorded marginally lower net profit in the third quarter of 2012 as container throughput did not increase as much as projected, Seatrade Asia online reports.
HPH Trust posted third quarter net profit of HK$1bn ($129m) compared to HK$1.1bn in the same period of last year. Revenue during the quarter rose 2.6% year-on-year to HK$3.33bn.
The container throughput of Hong Kong rose 5.6% as compared to the same quarter in 2011, but was 7.6% below the projection for the quarter. The throughput of Yantian International Container Terminals (YICT) increased by 9.7% quarter-on-quarter, but was 10.4% below the projection.
Going forward, HPH Trust believed it will benefit from shipping lines' improved financial performance in the second quarter of 2012 due to increased freight rates and lower bunker costs during the period.
“They continue to reduce costs and achieve economies of scale by deploying more mega vessels, entering into more vessel sharing agreements and consolidating traffic at larger port,” the trust said.
HPH Trust announced a distribution per unit (DPU) of HK cents 24.05 for the first nine months of this year, compared to HK cents 14.30 in the corresponding period of 2011.
