An increase in profits is the result of increased operating income from core business and an increase in commodity turnover by as much as 40 percent compared to the same period last year.
The Port of Rijeka Group has generated the record profit of 11.4 million kunas for the first six months of this year, reports Novi list.
This is the highest profit in the last ten years, if we exclude the one recorded for the year 2011, when the port earned large profit from selling the shares of the Adriatic Gate (Jadranska vrata) company, which manages the container terminal at Brajdica. Port of Rijeka accrued HRK 5.24 million of realized profit, while the rest of the semi-annual consolidated profit of the entire Port of Rijeka Group includes profits of its subsidiaries, Stanovi d.o.o. and Luka prijevoz d.o.o., and a 49 percent of the profit of the associate company – Adriatic Gate.
According to Vedran Devčić, the CEO of the Port of Rijeka, this trend of positive financial results is predicted to continue for the rest of the year, as the commodity turnover is expected to increase unless there are no major changes in the market.
“The increase in profit and profitability is the result of an increase in operating income from the core business and a rise in commodity turnover by as much as 40 percent compared to the same period last year. Financial revenues also increased with paying the part of the corresponding dividend of the Adriatic Gate associate company, which is the first of its kind since the privatization in 2011. Also, the reduction in the number of employees and continuous cost control affected the expenses and the realised operating profit. Taking into account the great investment cycle launched by the company, these results are certainly very encouraging and motivating,” said Devčić, briefly adding that the most important investments are already in progress.
First and foremost, there is an ongoing project for the modernisation of the terminal in Škrljevo, where the construction of new storage facilities is in progress, and which are gradually being put into operation by the port operator. In addition, the two projects for the reconstruction of the railway and other infrastructure in the Rijeka and Bakar harbour basins will soon begin. These two projects were recently given the financial support of the CEF, which will allocate around EUR 34 million of grants for both projects, which are worth a total of 40 million euros. By carrying out these two projects as well as making Škrljevo fully functional, the Port should reduce operating costs in the coming years and gradually increase its business profitability.
Compared to the Kopar port in Slovenia, the Port of Rijeka’s profits are almost twenty times smaller. However, these two ports cannot be objectively compared as they are completely different in terms of development programme and business structure. The difference stems from the fact that Port of Kopar combines all port operations and fees, while the Port of Rijeka is just one of the port operators and concessionaires in the Rijeka port. In terms of container traffic, Kopar concluded the first six months with a turnover of 459,965 TEU, which is an increase of 9 percent compared to the same period last year, while Rijeka port at Brajdica recorded a turnover of 103,971 TEU, which is an increase of 16 percent.
