PD Ports pressed home its case for a “Northern Gateway” at Teesport today after reporting a healthy rise in container volumes and profitability.
The company, which runs the UK’s second-largest port by volume, is lobbying for a deep-sea container terminal development at Teesport in a move it predicted would provide a major boost for the economy in the North East.
Announcing half-year results today, PD said it had been encouraged by the degree of interest shown by major shipping lines and terminal operators in the proposal, which it added could become a planning application by the spring.
Retailer Asda recently boosted the Teesport operation by signing a contract with PD for a new import centre, which is set to be ready by March.
Load-on, load-off container volumes at Teesport increased by 7% following the addition of new feeder services, which carry products unloaded from larger vessels elsewhere.
More shipping lines were also attracted to the existing deep water facilities at Teesport, which comprises the ports of Tees and Hartlepool and handles some 50
million tonnes of cargo a year.
Amid strong growth at Teesport, PD’s ports division achieved half-year revenues growth of 5% to £57.8m while profits were up 13% to £13.5m.
Growth was also driven by a much better performance in logistics-related operations following a business reorganisation.
PD said its outlook for the second half remained favourable, although the ports business would experience slower growth because of the comparative impact of contracts won in the prior financial period.
As well as ports and distribution-based logistics, PD operates a range of port and shipping services throughout the UK, particularly on the Humber.
Across the group, PD achieved a 3% rise in operating profits to £18.1m while bottom-line profits of £6.4m compared with losses of £1.7m a year earlier, when figures were hit by exceptional items.
The company announced last month that it had received a takeover approach from an unnamed party, but did not provide further details today.
References: EGi News 14/11/05
