Cambodia’s only deep-water port operator, publicly traded Sihanoukville Autonomous Port (CSX:PAS) is looking to a renewed 2021 after posting a net profit of $12.48 million in the first six months, representing a 455% increase compared to $2.24 million over the same period last year.
For the six months’ period ended of 30th June 2021, total revenue was $41.02 million which increased by 13.45%. The net profit rise was attributed to the increase in Cargoes and Containers throughput, and the decreased of Operating expenses and Unrealized foreign exchange loss (Japanese Yen).
Lou Kimchhun, Chairman of PAS stated that the company is going to continue its efforts for the betterment of business and service operation and to achieve the highest benefits for its shareholders. Adding, PAS has strengthened the work efficiency and built additional infrastructure to meet the increasing demand of customers and the growing economy.
In addition, a new multi-purpose terminal has been designed to import coal for the generation of electricity and cement production. PAS is also in the process of its New Container Terminal Project which is still under architectural detail designs. This new container terminal will be able to accommodate vessels with gross tonnage of 60,000 tons or container vessels with 5,000 TEUs which are the Post Panamax vessels, he added.
The company is also looking to streamline its services through the EDI system which aims to ramp up inventory and logistics control and boost exports. EDI enables a digital exchange of business documents and data in a standardized electronic format between trading partners.
The signature project has been in the pipeline since 2019 and in conjunction with International Cooperation Agency to provide grant aid of up to 1.340 billion yen ($12.3 million) for the project.
Under this project, a computerized system will be constructed in both the Sihanoukville and Phnom Penh ports to streamline import and export procedures, including applications and notifications at vessel arrival and departure.
JICA expects that the project will streamline the import and export procedures of Cambodia while bringing them into line with international standards, and modernize port administration.
The introduction of the port EDI system is also expected to contribute to the creation of a “Single Window” in Cambodia as part of the ASEAN Single Window framework for streamlining import and export procedures at ports.
In June, PAS announced shareholders have approved a KHR 403 a share annual dividend, 8% of its KHR 5040 a share in its 2017 IPO. PAS has maintained the same annual payout since 2017, despite the stock rising approximately 200% in value.
According to official documents, the Company has two substantial shareholders (5% or more), the Ministry of Economy and Finance (75%) and the Japanese multinational KAMIGUMI CO., LTD (13%).
PAS shared are currently trading at KHR 13,780 a share down from their peak of more than KHR 23,000 a share in late 2019 (before the COVID 19 pandemic).
