LONDON: Phnom Penh Autonomous Port (PPAP) posted more than 14 per cent growth in revenue last year, while earnings soared by 49 per cent, according to the company’s first official filing to the Cambodia Securities Exchange (CSX) since listing last December.
By the end of December 2015, total revenue reached $15 million while net profit after tax stood at $3 million, a 49 per cent increase compared to the 2014 financial year. PPAP operates the capital’s river port, which is Cambodia’s second-largest port by throughput. Most of the port operator’s revenue was driven by stevedoring services, which increased by 40 per cent during 2015, while lift-on, lift-off (LOLO) increased by 30 per cent.
Feeding the Kingdom’s construction boom, 60 per cent of imports were building materials, while exports were dominated by garments at 52 per cent, with rice at 38 per cent. According to the report’s expectations, 2016 will see at least 15 per cent growth in revenue – slightly more than it achieved last year.
Svay Hay, president and CEO of Acleda Securities, said that PPAP will likely see strong growth throughout the year due to the fact that Sihanoukville Autonomous Port is its only competitor. While the port showed a year-on-year decline in container traffic during the first quarter of this year, Hay projected this was a subtle hiccup. “Even though the first quarter was a bit slow, the base for increasing imports and exports remains, but we do not know by how much,” he said. However, he said with the company raising $5.2 million in an initial public offering, the potential for stronger returns has increased. “They have a resource of capital so they can expand into a bigger operation”, he said.
