ICTSI eyeing stake in Indonesian port

Listed International Container Terminal Services Inc. has signed a new deal to take over another cargo port facility overseas, this time in Jakarta’s Tanjung Priok area, as it continues to expand its global reach.

ICTSI on Tuesday said its indirect subsidiary, PT Karwell Indonesia, had informed the Indonesian Stock Exchange and the Capital Market and Financial Institutions Supervisory Agency of the company’s plan to drop its previous garment and textile manufacturing business.

“PT Karwell took the necessary steps to change its business purpose from garment and textile to maritime infrastructure and logistics services in order to preserve its business as a growing concern,” ICTSI said in a disclosure.

The change was done in line with the group’s planned acquisition of PT PBM Olah Jasa Andal (PTOJA), a company that owns a cargo loading and unloading at the Northern Jakarta subdistrict Tanjung Priok.

The company said it planned to acquire 100 percent of PTOJA. “PT Karwell also plans to get bridge financing to finance its new business activities,” ICTSI said.

So far this year, ICTSI has acquired stakes in major cargo ports in Pakistan in the Middle East and Nigeria in Africa.

ICTSI owns or operates facilities in the Philippines, China, Ecuador, Poland, Brazil, Madagascar, Syria, Georgia, Brunei, Indonesia, Japan, India, Colombia, Argentina, Croatia, Mexico and the United States.

The company recently reported that its net income rose 24 percent to $35.4 million at the end of the first quarter.

ICTSI said it reaped the benefits of its aggressive expansion in various international locations that protected it from economic shocks affecting certain areas.

Excluding the United States and Croatian ports, which the company had not yet acquired in the first quarter of 2011, ICTSI said its recurring revenue grew 9 percent.