Associated British Ports Holdings plc (ABP) has posted a big drop in pre-tax profits after writing off £44.9m costs associated with its failed bid to develop the Dibden Terminal container port at Southampton.
Group pre-tax profits for the six months ended June 30 totalled £20.1m, down from £64.2m in 2003.
However, the group’s underlying results (excluding the Dibden costs) show a more healthy picture, with group pre-tax profits up 7% to £65.2m and turnover rising 6% to £182.2m. And an investment of more than £400m will be made over the next 10 years in developing the core UK ports business.
Timber developments since January include new storage facilities becoming operational at Hull for North Sea Lumber (Sales) Ltd and Rix Shipping. The investments totalled £1.4m and were made on the back of 10-year customer agreements.
The port is also investing £1.1m in outdoor storage areas for Marshall Maritime Services Ltd, with the first phase becoming operational in July.
At Grimsby and Immingham, a £1m storage terminal was completed for Rowlinson Timber and an £800,000 storage terminal expansion was agreed for Humber Timber Terminals. South Wales Ports has agreed to spend £500,000 on building a timber terminal and a warehouse extension at Cardiff for timber and steel products.
Group chief executive Bo Lerenius said: “The underlying growth achieved by the group’s UK ports business in the first half of the year once again demonstrates the benefit of focusing our business on long-term contracts with quality customers.”
