Russian terminal operator Global Ports Investments has been hit hard by the country’s economic woes and sanctions against imports.
Global Ports container throughput dropped 32% in the first half of 2015 to 834,000 teu. The ports company operates ports on both the west and the east of Russia in St Petersburg and Vostochny near Nakhodka.
Global Ports reported revenues down 25% in the first half of the year at $214.3m and EBITDA dropped 19.2% to $153.4m.
“The macro-economic backdrop in Russia remained challenging throughout the first half of 2015 affecting consumer demand. Although this had a strong impact on imports, we have been seeing growth in containerized exports since 2013, which is a promising development,” commented Tiemen Meester, chairman of Global Ports.
The outlook was no more positive. “Looking ahead to the second half of the year, we expect that the market will remain difficult. Nonetheless, Global Ports has excellent assets and a great management team, further complemented by our new ceo’s experience and expertise, and is well-placed to successfully navigate the current market conditions,” he said.
Copyright Ships & Ports Ltd. Permission to use quotations from this article is granted subject to appropriate credit given to www.shipsandports.com.ng as the source.