HPH Trust – BT

Hutchison Port trust’s Q4 profit in line with forecast

HUTCHISON Port Holdings (HPH) Trust posted net profit attributable to unitholders of HK$608.2 million (S$98.5 million) for the three months ended Dec 31, 2011, in line with the HK$592.9 million forecast. The local bourse’s heftiest listing last year also announced distribution per unit (DPU) of 23.4 HK cents for the July-December 2011 period.

As for the full-year period – starting on constitution date Feb 25 – the trust’s net profit attributable to unitholders was HK$1.97 billion, 4.8 per cent higher than projections of HK$1.88 billion.

Full-year DPU was 37.7 HK cents, higher than the 37.4 HK cents projected in the IPO prospectus.

HPH’s fiscal 2011 effectively began on March 16 as acquisition of its assets and business undertakings were completed then.

While HPH hit its distribution targets, its topline lagged behind its targets, affected by the economic slowdown in the US and Europe last year.

Revenue for the October-December period was HK$3.1 billion, against the expected HK$3.2 billion. Similarly, for the fiscal year, HPH’s revenue was HK$9.7 billion, about 5 per cent lower than the $10.2 billion set out in the IPO prospectus. At the same time, HPH Trust managed to increase throughput at its ports by 4 per cent year-on-year.

In the final quarter, its Hong Kong terminals did the heavy lifting, with throughput 3.5 per cent higher than forecast due to the longer-than-expected peak season.

Yantian’s throughput, however, was 9.4 per cent below projections as the port is more reliant on the US and European market.

As a result of softer demand from Europe and the US, the chief executive officer of HPH’s trustee-manager, Hai Chi-Yuet, said the trust will focus on increasing volume growth on transshipment, intra-Asia trade and certain high-growth trade routes out of the Middle East, Oceania, Central and South America and Africa.

‘We are trying to get business out of these routings and we are in discussions and negotiations with shipping lines,’ she said in a teleconference yesterday.

In 2012, Ms Hai expects the portfolio ports to do well in the face of more mega-sized vessels being deployed this year and shipping lines entering into vessel-sharing agreements. ‘The consolidation and bigger vessels mean that shipping lines use less vessels with capacity remaining largely same. It is good for us because we like to handle less vessels, but each vessel with more boxes,’ she said.

HPH Trust ended yesterday a cent lower at 74.5 US cents.