By Arjay L. Balinbin, Senior Reporter
ITNERNATIONAL Container Terminal Services, Inc. (ICTSI) is looking at business opportunities in the technology space as the global health crisis affecting industries continues, an official of the listed port operator said on Wednesday.
“We are, I mean at least at the terminal level, really looking at opportunities in the technology space,” ICTSI Executive Vice-President Christian Martin R. Gonzalez said at an online forum organized by the Makati Business Club.
“We are admittedly looking at opportunities also vertically, within the logistics sector, but we’ve also always been very careful not to compete with our customers,” he added.
In her analysis posted on the Asian Development Bank’s (ADB) blog site, Yesim Elhan-Kayalar, advisor to the ADB’s Economic Research and Regional Cooperation Department, said that smart ports are needed for shipping to recover from the global health crisis.
“The good news is that many ports have already modeled the way forward, and local port authorities can look to the early adopters for examples that can be replicated,” she noted.
At the forum, Mr. Gonzalez spoke about how ICTSI is addressing the challenges posed by the pandemic crisis.
ICTSI manages itself based on the foundations built in the past, he pointed out.
Openness to innovation and new technologies, trusting the company’s system, hiring people who thrive in that system, and empathy are among ICTSI’s approaches to addressing the current crisis.
ICTSI recently reported an 89% increase in its second-quarter net income, exceeding its 2019 pre-pandemic performance.
The company’s net income for the second quarter was $118.2 million, up from $62 million in 2020 and $65 million in 2019.
Its attributable net income for the quarter climbed 98% to $106.6 million from $53.8 previously. Total revenues rose 28% to $447 million.
The results were driven by favorable market conditions and prudent actions taken by the company at the onset of the pandemic, ICTSI Chairman and President Enrique K. Razon, Jr. said in a statement.