The sharp drop in volumes (1.01 million TEUs against 1.15, -11.8%) handled by the La Spezia Container Terminal, controlled at 60%, marked the 2023 budget results of Contiship Italia.
This can be learned from the aggregate financial statements of the German Eurokai group, which controls Contship and which shows a decline in the revenues of the Italian business branch (also made up of the investments in the Ravenna Container Terminal and the Salerno Container Terminal, the inland terminal of Melzo and the companies active in the intermodal sector such as Sogemar, Hannibal, Oceanogate) from 247.6 million euros in 2022 to 219.1 million in 2023, with Ebit dropped from 61.5 to 37.8 million euros: “The drop in work volume , combined with a significant reduction in revenues from terminalization fees and extraordinary expenses for provisions related to the insolvency of a service provider, led to a halving of net profit compared to the previous year” reads the document.
This despite the fact that, however, the volumes handled by the intermodal segment increased from 228 thousand to 248 thousand TEUs: “Despite this increase in volumes, the end-of-year result was lower than that of the previous year and negative, above all due to the overcapacity and operational disruptions caused by a derailment in the Gotthard tunnel and the poor quality of the infrastructure in the North. Europe (mainly in Germany)” explains the balance sheet.
On the other hand, “the number of trains operated by Oceanogate Italia in 2023 increased by 12.4% compared to the previous year, mainly thanks to the new equipment available and the better use of capacity thanks to the technical training of operational staff. This is reflected in an improved and positive end-of-year result compared to the previous year.” The results of driveMybox Italia, active in road haulage, were also positive.
As for the significant events of 2023, particular focus on the Egyptian investment, in which Contship actively participates with a 29.5% held directly: “The signing of the contract at the Ministry of Transport in Cairo, in the presence of the Egyptian Minister of Transport, the Minister Egyptian for International Cooperation and the German Ambassador by representatives of all the credit institutions, as well as the management team of the Dact (Damietta Alliance Container Terminal) and the consortium partner, marked an important stage in the development of the project. The new Terminal 2 of the port of Damietta, with a total capacity of 3.3 million TEUs, is expected to come into operation in early 2025 and serve as a strategic transhipment hub for Hapag-Lloyd (39% shareholder, ed) in the eastern Mediterranean. The duration of the concession is 30 years”.
However, responsibility for the postponement of the works for the expansion of Lsct was attributed to the ADSP of La Spezia: “The wartime reclamation works conducted by the Port Authority, which are four to six months late compared to the original program, as well as the death sudden changes by the project manager in January 2024 are currently causing minor delays in the implementation of the project. The operational start-up of the Angelo Ravano Terminal is currently expected in the second half of 2026”.
In any case, we read further, “the further expansion of the La Spezia Container Terminal is of particular importance for the Contship Italia Group. In addition to this, attention will focus on the closure of the liquidation procedure of Cict industrial port of Cagliari. Earnings for the 2024 financial year are expected to be at the previous year’s level. As a result of local expansion and further strengthening of the company’s capital base, La Spezia Container Terminal SpA is also expected to pay lower dividends in 2024 and subsequent years. For this reason, Contship Italia is expected to record a slight decline in net profit for 2024. Whether and to what extent Contship Italia will distribute dividends in fiscal 2024 is currently uncertain.”
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