Singapore-based global port operator PSA International said Monday its 2006 net profit rose 14.3 percent, boosted by exceptional gains and record shipping container volumes. Revenue came in at 3.74 billion dollars, up 1.6 percent from the previous year.
The port operator, owned by state-linked Singapore investment firm Temasek Holdings, said it handled a record container volume of 51.29 million 20-foot equivalent units (TEUs) last year, 18.6 percent more than in 2005.
Its terminals in Singapore handled 23.98 million TEUs, 7.6 percent over 2005, and its ports in Europe, China and other parts of Asia moved 27.31 million container boxes, up 30.2 percent from 2005.
"PSA continually strengthened its leadership position in 2006 both through capacity expansion at its existing terminals and by investing in new port projects around the world," PSA Group chief executive Eddie Teh said.
Last year, the group increased investments to upgrade port facilities to handle newer and bigger container vessels. It also bought 20 percent of the port operations of its Hong Kong rival Hutchison Whampoa.
"Moving forward, our main challenge as we expand is to manage the upward-trending cost arising from escalating fuel and material prices, an increasingly tight labour market and a need to customise our services to meet shipping lines' rigorous demands," Teh said. PSA International operates a network of container terminals in 14 countries across Asia, Europe and the Americas.
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