Freeport company reports increased throughput, profit

Malta Freeport Terminals Ltd made an operating profit before depreciation of $8.5 million and a net profit of $4.5 million in the period between March and December last year, Malta Freeport's financial statements, tabled in parliament yesterday, show.

Malta Freeport Terminals Ltd was set up in 2001 as the operator of both container terminals and warehousing facilities. It took over the operations and equipment of Freeport Terminal (Malta) plc.

It is now the single operating company, amalgamating container handling, industrial storage and investments.

Company chairman Marin Hili said that during 2001 Malta Freeport handled a record 1,165,070 TEUs (containers), an increase of 12.8 per cent over the previous year. Malta Freeport currently has regular links with over 90 ports worldwide.

Malta Freeport Corporation Ltd, which now fulfils the role of landlord and authority over the Freeport zone, made a loss in 2001 of $1.22 million compared to a profit of $12.3 million in the previous year. Mr Hili explained that this movement was attributed to the decrease in dividend income earned from the company's major subsidiary. Last year's dividend had reflected the accumulated profits of a number of years, while this year's dividend of $3.7 million reresented the profits of 2001.

The Malta Freeport Group registered an operating loss of $84,382 compared to $5 million for the previous year. This resulted from a $5.1 million increase in turnover and a reduction of depreciation of $1.1 million compensated by the increase in operating costs of $1.29 million. The group loss for the year was $1.2 million compared to $5.7 million in the previous year.

Oiltanking Malta Ltd, an associate company of the Freeport Group, made an operating profit of $4.8 milion and a net profit of $4 million. Last year saw 450 ships make use of the company's jetties, with the company handling over 3.5 million metric tons of oil.