SAAM Posts Profit Growth in 1H
Chilean provider of port, logistics and towage services SAAM ended the first half of 2017 with a net income of USD 43 million, showing a rise of 48.3 percent year-on-year basis.
The provider of port, logistics and towage services in 13 countries in the Americas said that this figure was strongly impacted by a non-recurring gain of US$26.9 million, mainly from the sale of its minority interest in Tramarsa. Excluding non-recurring effects, earnings for the first six months of the year totaled US $ 16.6 million
“Isolating the non-recurring effect, these results reflect the challenges we are facing in an industry experiencing consolidation. For this reason, we are working hard, and with a long-term outlook, to strengthen our current assets and evaluate new opportunities in the region. In this spirit, we are very satisfied with our recent investments in the ports of Caldera in Costa Rica and Guayaquil in Ecuador,” commented Macario Valdés, CEO of SAAM.
During the first half of the year, the port terminals division performed particularly well, with sales of US$163.7 million, up 25% from the same period in 2016. Ebitda totaled US$50.5 million, reflecting an increase of 14%.
These figures can be attributed to Terminal Portuario Guayaquil (Ecuador), which boasts increased volumes of cargo transferred and positive projections thanks to the recent inauguration of its expanded dock and new infrastructure.
This is in addition to the contribution from Puerto Caldera in Costa Rica (added to SAAM’s portfolio in early 2017), and positive commercial management at Terminal Marítimo Mazatlán (Mexico), all of which helped offset poor performances from the Chilean terminals of San Antonio—due to excess supply in Central Chile—Antofagasta and San Vicente.
One highlight during the period was the purchase of 15% of Iquique Terminal Internacional, giving SAAM 100% ownership of this port.
The Towage Division posted sales of US$128.1 million and Ebitda of US$42.9 million. This division’s results were affected by a decrease in offshore contracts in Mexico, exchange rates in Brazil and a reduction in special services in Uruguay and Chile.
Finally, SAAM’s Logistics Division reported sales of US$64.6 million and Ebitda of US$5.1 million. These results show a stable trend with respect to the last few quarters.
