Port of Salalah net climbs to RO 14.62m in 2020

MUSCAT, JAN 17 - Salalah Port Services Company SAOG, the owner and operator of Port of Salalah, reported a steep increase in post-tax profit, which climbed to RO 14.620 million last year, up from RO 5.690 million a year earlier. Total revenue for the year was up 19 per cent to RO 76.708 million last year, which includes RO 11.397 million received by the port as the balance of compensation from insurers towards damage sustained by the gateway during Cyclone Mekunu in May 2018. Total expenditure also climbed 5 per cent to RO 62.089 million last year, up from RO 58.999 million a year earlier. Cyclone Mekunu caused property damage, increased cost of working and business interruption, following which the Port reached a settlement totalling RO 26.05 million with insurance firms. While RO 14.80 million was received and accounted for in the 2020 Financial Statement, the balance RO 11.25 million was recognised in 2020. The port also recorded a 6 per cent uptick in the containing handling throughput, which climbed to 4.344 million TEUs last year, up from 4.109 million TEUs in 2019. The growth of the container volumes compared to 2019, despite the COVID-19 pandemic, is driven by the development of global container trade as well as the fact that the container terminal operations had not yet recovered from the impact of the cyclone until the second quarter of 2019,” said the Chief Financial Officer in unaudited financial results published over the weekend. However, general cargo volumes dipped 6 per cent to 15.296 million tonnes last year, down from 16.278 million tonnes in 2019. The decline was attributed to lower demand in export markets for gypsum and limestone, it stated.