Hutchison Port Holdings Trust’s Q1 profit slumps 70%

SINGAPORE — Hutchison Port Holdings Trust (HPHT) suffered a 69.9 per cent plunge in first-quarter net profit from the corresponding period a year earlier, largely due to the absence of a government rent and rates refund previously received, the Hong Kong-based port operator said on Monday (April 24).

Net profit attributable to unit holders for the three months ended March 31 was HK$166.9 million (S$29.9 million), down from HK$554.9 million in the year-earlier period, Singapore-listed HPHT said in an after-market regulatory filing. Excluding the rent and rates refund in 2016, the net profit attributable to unitholders would have been 15.7 per cent below last year.

Revenue for the quarter fell 6.3 per cent to HK$2.58 billion, as throughput at some of its key terminals was hit by a decrease in transshipment cargoes. Revenue from Hong Kong operations was also affected by the greater volume of concessions offered to certain liners, while revenue from mainland Chinese operations was hurt by a weaker yuan. No distribution was announced for the quarter.

Looking ahead, HPHT said: “Outbound cargoes to the United States continued to grow in the first quarter of 2017, driven by the moderate expansion in economic activity in the US with the support of strong employment data. However, there remains a high level of uncertainty over the domestic and global ramifications on the US economy and trade in 2017 as the new US administration commences the roll-out of its fiscal policies and initiatives.”

“European economic activity is gaining momentum and outbound cargoes to Europe showed a mild uplift in the first quarter of 2017. Despite this, continued weak consumer sentiment and the high unemployment rate are still plaguing the sustainability of Europe’s economic recovery and the pickup of the European trade in 2017,” it added.

“Given the uncertainty around the global trade outlook, management remains cautious on the expected cargo volume for 2017 and will continue to focus on better cost control through improvements in productivity and efficiency,” it said.