Chelsea Logistics profit surges in Q1

Chelsea Logistics Holdings Corp. saw earnings surge in the first quarter of 2018, bolstered by recent acquisitions.

Chelsea Logistics, controlled by businessman Dennis Uy, posted a profit of P115 million during the three-month period, up 326 percent, as shown in a stock exchange filing on Thursday.

Moreover, total revenues hit P1.18 billion, up 39 percent over P850 million in the same period last year, when considering new acquisitions.

Around 44 percent of revenues came from subsidiary Chelsea Shipping Corp., which saw revenue contributions jump 60 percent to P522 million.

Chelsea Shipping’s fleet is composed of 12 tankers and four barges. This includes the Medium Range (MR) tanker received in April 2018, which will serve the needs of local oil companies such as affiliate Phoenix Petroleum Philippines Inc.

Trans-Asia Shipping Lines Inc., which operates passenger and cargo operations in Cebu, generated P370 million revenues, up 28 percent. Recent acquisition Starlite Ferries saw contributions hit P241 million, up 33 percent.

Its cost of sales and services, on a pro-forma basis, rose 24 percent to P759 million. Operating expenses went up 67 percent to P174 million.

Chelsea Logistics CEO Chryss Alfonsus V. Damuy said the pace of growth will likely be maintained, given the strong demand.

“With the anticipated influx of passengers during the summer season and increase in cargo movements towards the end of the year in preparation for the Christmas holidays, we are confident that we can sustain the growth in revenues and earnings of the Group during the succeeding quarters,” Damuy said in a statement.   /kga