KUALA LUMPUR: Westports Holdings Bhd's net profit rose 4.6 per cent to RM203.74 million in the second quarter (2Q) ended June 30, 2024 with an increase in container revenue.
The year before, it made a net profit of RM194.76 million in the same quarter.
The group's revenue rose 1.9 per cent to RM552.99 million from RM542.64 million last year mainly attributed to the increase in container revenue.
For the first half of year ended June 30, 2024 (1H24), Westports' net profit rose to RM408.26 million from RM378.35, while revenue jumped to RM1.10 billion as Westports handled a higher container volume of 5.40 million twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEUs).
The intra-Asia regional trade underpinned Westports' container volume growth as this trade lane accounted for 65 per cent of the container handled.
In its filing with Bursa Malaysia Securities, Westports said the continued tension in the Middle East has affected the global supply chain and in turn built up towards congestion in regional container ports.
"The impeded container terminal operational efficiency could emerge as a factor that influences the overall volume throughput. As such, for the current financial year, the group maintains its cautious expectation of a low single-digit growth rate over the previous year," it said.
The group declared its first interim dividend of 8.89 sen per share, which amounted to RM303 million.
Executive chairman and group managing director Datuk Ruben Emir Gnanalingam Abdullah said regional port congestion has eased, but the experience highlighted the interconnectedness of Southeast Asia container shipping hubs, like Port Klang and Singapore.
He said this underscored the importance of having multiple ports to handle the growing regional trade as they work in tandem to ensure the resilience and reliability of the overall regional and global supply chains.
Looking ahead, Ruben said Westports will celebrate its 30th anniversary in September 2024 and is already working towards its 31st year of operations by commencing on the Westports 2 container terminal expansion programme. When completed, he said Westports 2 will nearly double the current 14 million TEUs handling yard capacity to 28 million TEUs.
"We have committed to investing and maintaining Port Klang as one of the region's biggest and most competitive mega-transhipment hubs and Malaysia's premier gateway shipping port, with sustainability at the forefront," he added.