International Container Terminal Services, Inc. (ICT) slashed its capital expenditure (CAPEX) budget for this year by 40.7% to about $160 million. The company’s chairman and chief executive Enrique Razon Jr. said the port operator was eagerly on the lookout for opportunities to grow its holdings even during the COVID-19 pandemic.
During ICT’s virtual annual stockholder’s meeting last Thursday, Razon said the port giant has an unsatisfied hunger for acquisitions as it seeks to further expand its reach overseas.
“We continue to be very active in seeking out potential acquisitions or new projects whose potential or valuation makes sense in this environment,” Razon said.
“Given the great uncertainty of many economies and the global economy itself, we have shored up our balance sheet, and we will continue to seize every opportunity to further strengthen our finances going forward,” he added.
Razon said the impact of the pandemic on the company was not as bad as originally predicted, proving ICT’s flexibility and financial resources to survive the crisis.
“Reacting quickly to the situation we have slashed almost all new capital expenditures to almost nothing, leaving only those projects that were about to be completed and those absolutely necessary,” Razon said.
“We have also drastically cut our operating cost budget by 11 percent across the board with further cuts planned,” he added.
The port operator which has 31 container terminal facilities in 18 countries, recently raised $400 million from a global bond issue, which was over 4.6 times oversubscribed.
The company saw its net income attributable to equity holders drop by 18% to $59.6 million due to lower operating income, an increase in concession interest, and pandemic related costs.
Int’l Container Terminal Services, Inc. is listed in the Philippine Stock Exchange as $ICT as of June 18, 2020, its last traded price was Php 101.00 down -2.04 percent from its previous closed with day value trade of 157.98M.
-Stockbytes PH, June 19, 2020
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