Thursday 28 Mar 2024
By
main news image

KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 11): Port operator Westports Holdings Bhd saw its net profit for the fourth quarter ended Dec 31, 2014 (4QFY14) grew 6.6% to RM139.8 million or 4.1 sen per share from RM131.18 million or 3.85 sen a share a year ago, due to strong growth in operational revenue.

Westports (fundamental: 1.25; valuation: 0.9) recorded operational revenue of RM385.9 million for 4QFY14, up 8.1% from RM357.3 million in 4QFY13, thanks to growth in the container segment of 11.7% to 2.19 million TEUs (20-foot equivalent units) from 1.96 million TEUs a year ago.

Its handling of import and export containers increased by 12.1%, while transhipment grew 11.6% in 4QFY14.

Revenue for 4QFY14, however, fell 23.5% to RM384.49 million from RM502.63 million a year ago.

The group has proposed a second interim dividend of 6.15 sen per share for the financial year ended Dec 31 last year (FY14), payable on March 11, 2015. This brings its total dividend to 11.25 sen, which is in line with its payout ratio of 75% of net profit.

For the full year, Westports saw its net profit expand 17.67% to RM512.21 million or 15.02 sen per share from RM435.31 million or 13.86 sen per share the previous year.

Operational revenue for FY14 rose 11.5% to RM1.5 billion.

Full year revenue, however, slid 8.8% to RM1.56 billion from RM1.71 billion in FY13.

In a statement today, the port operator said it handled a record container volume of 8.4 million TEUs last year, up 12.1% from FY13.

Transhipment containers increased by 12.1% to 5.9 million TEUs, while import and export containers rose 11.8% to 2.5 million TEUs in FY14, said Westports.

Westports chief executive officer Ruben Emir Gnanalingam said 2014 was a momentous year as Westports achieved its highest ever operational revenue, profit level and container throughput volume.

"To enhance our growth momentum, Westports is laying the foundation for the next phase of expansion as we capitalise on the ever rising container throughput levels while also supporting our clients’ strategic requirements such as the Ocean Three Alliance," he said in the statement.

The Ocean Three Alliance consists of CMA CGM, CSCL and UASC, and had commenced its operations on Jan 17 this year.

"These three liners are currently using Westports as their hub and the alliance will further reinforced Westports as their key shipping hub in this region," said Ruben.

Meanwhile, Westports expects its container throughput to grow between 5% and 10% this year, driven by both transhipment business as well as the import and export segment.

As of 12.30pm, the stock was up 2 sen or 0.57% to settle at RM3.51. Some 1.52 million shares were traded in the morning session. It has a market capitalisation of RM11.9 billion.

(Note: The Edge Research's fundamental score reflects a company’s profitability and balance sheet strength, calculated based on historical numbers. The valuation score determines if a stock is attractively valued or not, also based on historical numbers. A score of 3 suggests strong fundamentals and attractive valuations.)

      Print
      Text Size
      Share