Westports Q1 net profit falls 12%

PETALING JAYA: Westports Holdings Bhd’s net profit fell 12% to RM123.8 million in the first quarter ended March 31, 2018, from RM140.9 million in the previous corresponding quarter mainly due to higher depreciation and finance cost.
Revenue for the quarter plunged 26% to RM385.09 million compared with RM520.9 million in the same quarter a year ago.
Its operational revenue was down by 12% to RM385.09 million, from RM438.6 million previously, mainly attributed to adoption of MFRS 15 from Jan 1.
On its prospects, the group said that its container throughput is expected to register modest growth rate of a low single-digit percentage this year.
In a statement today, the port operator said that its container operations remains the most significant revenue contributor at 84%.
During the quarter, it said the container operations handled 2.25 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs), with the Intra-Asia segment constituting 61% of the total containers handled.
Westports said it continued to facilitate and support domestic economic activities as the gateway volume improved strongly by 25% in the first quarter. It said transhipment volume has improved when compared with the preceding quarter to 1.48 million TEUs.
The group’s managing director Datuk Ruben Emir Gnanalingam said the first quarter results reflected the residual impact from the unprecedented realignment within the container shipping industry in 2017.