Sri Lanka Ports Authority, which runs the island’s harbours for merchant shipping, made a profit of 10.5 billion rupees in the first four months of 2019, the finance ministry said, as cargo volumes grew strongly.
The SLPA’s debt to banks was 11,957 million rupees during the period, it said in a report on government finances for the first half of the year.
The SLPA has made a 4.2 billion rupees profit in 2018, down from 13.2 billion rupees the previous year, its highest ever, after a foreign exchange gain from the removal of loans taken to build the southern Hambantota Port.
The finance ministry report said several measures have been taken to increase the capacity of SLPA ports with growing competition from rival regional ports and changes in the shipping industry.
Sri Lanka Ports Authority operates the ports of Colombo, Galle, Trincomalee, Kankasanthurai, Oluvil, Myliddy, Point Pedro and Karainagar
