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By Darwin G. Amojelar, Reporter
ASIAN Terminal, Inc. said it will renew the
contract of Aboitiz Transport System Corp. to operate at the Eva M.
Macapagal Super Terminal at Pier 15, South Harbor, Manila.
The contract will expire next year.
“We have a long- term contract with them [ATSC]
and we are looking forward to obviously renewing that contract,”
Bryan T. Smith, ATI chairman, told reporters.
The ATSC, which opened in January 2003 at South
Harbor Terminal, operates a fleet of six SuperFerry, three Cebu
ferries and one 2GO freighter.
“The ATS is the most modern in the Philippines
… an asset that needs to be used to its potential,” Smith said.
ATI posted a consolidated net income of P509.1
million in the first nine months of the year, 4.09 percent lower
than last year.
The company’s consolidated revenues for the three quarters went
down by 1.8 percent to P3.06 billion compared with 3.12 billion in
the same period last year.
”During the period, the unfavorable effect of the stronger peso
against the US dollar on consolidated revenues amounted to
P174.8 million,” ATI said.
Earlier, ATI and the Philippine Ports Authority
signed a supplemental contract to extend the port operator’s cargo
handling operations for another 25 years or until May 2038.
Under the third supplement, the company shall
continue to manage, develop, maintain and operate and render the
following services at the South Harbor such as container terminal
handling, stevedoring, arrastre, storage, porterage, passenger
terminal management and other related services until such date.
ATI has until year 2013 to operate the South
Harbor with a total investment of $300 million.
The company plans to spend about $350 million to
further develop the South Harbor. The fresh investment is in
addition to the $250 million that the company promised to spend for
port development when the PPA awarded the South Harbor contract in
1992, which includes the P400-million seven-story PPA Building.
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