Global Ports Investments PLC (“Global Ports” or the “Company” and, together with its subsidiaries and joint ventures, the “Group”) (LSE ticker: GLPR) today announces its operational results for Q2 and H1 2021.
Highlights:
- Strong market growth seen in Q2 2021 as the overall Russian container market grew by 13.3 % to 1.38 million TEU, driven by both the accelerating growth of full containerised import (+26.0% y-o-y) and the continued growth of containerised export (+3.9% y-o-y).
- As a result of the sharp increase in freight rates in the global container shipping market in H2 2020 and a deficit of empty containers globally, during Q2 2021 market players preferred faster container import and export supply chains with the shortest sea leg. As a result, Q2 market growth was concentrated in the Far Eastern basin (Q2 2021: +18.1% y-o-y) and the Southern basin (Q2 2021: +11.2% y-o-y). Nonetheless, combined throughput of terminals located in Saint Petersburg and the surrounding area demonstrated signs of recovery with Q2 2021 volumes up 4.3% y-o-y after an 11.9% y-o-y decline in Q1 2021.
- As a result of the strong growth seen in Q2 2021 the growth of the Russian container market accelerated to 7.6% y-o-y in H1 2021 with throughput at Far Eastern terminals increasing 14.7% y-o-y, Southern terminals increasing by 9.1% y-o-y, while the growth of combined throughput of terminals located in Saint Petersburg and the surrounding area in Q2 2021 was not sufficient to compensate for the decline in Q1 2021, resulting in 4.2% y-o-y decline for the first six months of 2021.
- The Group successfully maintained its market share position in Q2 2021 in all its basins with throughput at VSC boosting by 23.4% y-o-y in Q2 2021 (outperforming the Russian Far East market increase of +18.1%) and throughput of its terminals in the Baltic Basin growing by 4.4% y-o-y in Q2 2021 (vs a market growth of 4.3%). In total, Consolidated Marine Container Throughput increased by 10% y-o-y in Q2 2021 to 418 thousand TEUs.
- The Group’s Consolidated Marine Container Throughput increased by 1.9% y-o-y in H1 2021 to 789 thousand TEUs.
- The Group’s Consolidated Marine Bulk Throughput increased by 16.2% y-o-y to 1.37 million tonnes in Q2 2021, driven by the solid recovery in global coal demand and high growth of fertilisers and scrap metal handling at PLP (H1 2021: growth of 19.0% y-o-y).
- Heavy Ro-ro handling demonstrated a continued recovery in Q2 2021 with a 56.4% growth to 6.9 thousand units. Car handling was also strong in Q2 2021 with an 66.4% growth to 26.1 thousand units.
- On the back strong growth of the market in the Far East, the decision has been made to gradually cease coal handling at VSC and concentrate on the Group’s core strategic operations of driving container volumes. This decision will enable the Group to decrease its environmental impact from the third quarter of 2021 and capture the growth opportunity presented by the increased sustained demand for container import and export flows as well as steadily growing transit volumes seen at VSC.
Albert Likholet, CEO of Global Ports Management, commented:
“Over the period, the Russian container market was strong in all segments and across all basins as rapid import recovery, continuing growth of full export, and booming transit volumes has enabled an acceleration of its growth in Q2. We are also pleased to see that the Baltic basin has started to catch up with the overall market performance and that the Group’s terminals grew faster than the market in the Far East basin and Saint-Petersburg area during the second quarter”.
“Our agile asset base has always meant that Global Ports has been well-placed to navigate any challenges and benefit from any market uplift, and we have remained adaptable, taking an opportunistic approach to additional revenue streams. Furthermore, the impact that our business has on the environment has always been an important consideration for us. VSC container handling growth in the second quarter of 2021 was 23.4% y-o-y with the terminal posting the highest monthly container volumes in its history so far this year, and we see further growth potential to come. Therefore, in the current environment, it makes strategic sense to prioritise container volumes in the Far East, delivering a lower environmental impact, which has always been at the core of our Group strategy”
