Singapore's PSA posts fall in net profit, drop in container volume

Apr 3, 2010, 14:49 GMT

Singapore - Singapore port operator PSA International Ltd on Saturday reported a drop in net profit for a second consecutive year 2009 as the port and shipping industries were hit hard by the global recession.

Net profit for 2009 fell 6.1 per cent year-on-year to 976 million Singapore dollars (697 million US dollars), down from 1.04 billion Singapore dollars a year ago, PSA said in a statement.

The decline, however, was an improvement from the 46-per-cent slump in net profit posted in 2008.

Group revenue in 2009 dropped 12.7 per cent to 3.8 billion Singapore dollars, down from 4.4 billion Singapore dollars a year ago, said the company.

Container volume moved by PSA in 2009 contracted 9.9 per cent year-on-year to 56.9 million TEU, or 20-foot-container equivalent units, as the group 'saw its first ever decline in containers handled across its 28 ports worldwide,' said group chief executive Eddie Teh.

'2009 ... turned out to be a year of unprecedented hardship and challenges for the port and shipping industries,' he said.

Although the last two months of 2009 and the first two months of 2010 showed tentative signs of recovery, said Teh, 'the road ahead will be bumpy and uncertain.'

PSA said container handling at its flagship terminal in Singapore declined by 13.1 per cent year-on-year to reach 25.1 million TEU in 2009, but Singapore remained the busiest container port worldwide.