SINGAPORE - Hutchison Port Holdings Trust (HPH Trust) reported a 21.5 per cent decline in second-quarter earnings to HK$269.1 million (S$47.1 million), weighed down by reduced contributions from associated companies.
Revenue for the three months to June 30 dipped 1.5 per cent to HK$2.89 billion.
The manager of the container port business trust said the combined container throughput of its terminals in Kong Kong grew 3.9 per cent and container throughput of the Yantian International Container Terminals in China rose 10 per cent.
But average revenue per twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEU) for Hong Kong was lower due to greater volume of concessions offered to certain liners, while for China, it was because of the depreciation in the yuan and certain revision of tariffs following the reformation of liner alliances.
Contributions from associated companies came to a loss of HK$24.9 million, reversing from a positive contribution of HK$5.2 million a year earlier, mainly reflecting the share of Huizhou International Container Terminals' result following the completion of the acquisition by HPH Trust at the end of 2016.
Earnings per unit fell to 3.09 Hong Kong cents from 3.93 Hong Kong cents previously. Attributable net asset value per unit was HK$4.62 as at June 30, lower than HK$4.74 as at Dec 31 last year.
Net profit for the half year ended June 30 net profit slumped 51.4 per cent to HK$436 million, while revenue eased 3.8 per cent to HK$5.47 billion.
The trust has proposed a distribution of 9.5 Hong Kong cents per unit for the half year, well down from the 14 Hong Kong cents per unit previously.
HPH Trust units closed flat at 48 US cents on Wednesday, before the results were announced.
