Aboitiz Transport suffers net loss of P152.5 million for 1H

Aboitiz Transport System Corp. (ATSC) — the country's largest shipping firm — incurred a net loss for the first half of the year. According to the company, most of its passenger vessels and freighters were on regular maintenance during the period. ATSC told the Philippine Stock Exchange Wednesday that it suffered a net loss of P152.5 million from January to June in 2010. During the same period a year earlier, the company had a net income of P16.8 million. Still, ATSC managed to post revenues of P6.7 billion as against P6.2 billion in the previous year. Local freight business contributed P2.5 billion, a 6-percent decrease compared last year. "Operating efficiencies are maintained, reaching 99-percent load factors on SuperFerry vessels compared to just 89 percent last year," ATSC said. "The vessels will be back in operation by the second half of the year. For the next 30 months until its next scheduled maintenance, ATSC expects to maximize the earnings potential of its fleet," it added. The company's passage business was reduced by P242 million, inclusive of ancillary revenues, to P1.5 billion. For the period, only two of the company's larger Roro-passenger (ropax) vessels were operating from January to June, while the remaining three in its fleet where on scheduled drydocking. ATSC's full-vessel fleet will be operational during the second half of the year. The company has already bought two ropax vessels each to be deployed to its fleet of Superferry and Cebuferry. Another two new SuperFerry vessels had already made its maiden voyage in July. ATSC's supply chain solutions, mainly on trading and third party logistics, has increased but not enough to offset the business lost in passage and cargo. "2GO continues to integrate its total supply chain solutions business in order to provide seamless solutions to clients." —JE/OMG, GMANews.TV