Hactl sees better end to 2011
Hong Kong Air Cargo Terminals Limited (Hactl) – the leading air cargo terminal operator at the world’s No. 1 cargo airport – ended 2011 on a more positive note, with a narrowing of the gap between its performance compared to the record results of 2010.
The last three months of 2011 saw total tonnages improve steadily, closing at 4.3 % below 2010 by December. This compared favourably with the worst month of 2011, May, when tonnage reached a trough of 12% below 2010.
The fourth quarter of 2011 – as usual, the strongest of the year – saw Hactl handling a total of 710,021 tonnes of cargo, down 7.3% on 2010. Total exports in the fourth quarter were down 9.3% and imports were down 11.9%, while transhipments once again showed growth at 3.8% over 2010.
For 2011 as a whole, Hactl handled a total of 2,719,321 tonnes (down 6.2%). This comprised 1,445,458 tonnes of exports (down 9%), 676,695 tonnes of imports (down 8.8%) and 597,168 tonnes of transhipments (up 5.1%). Transhipments showed growth in nine months of 2011.
Says Lilian Chan, Executive Director of Hactl: “After a year when traffic was as much as 12% behind, to finish just 6.2% down on the record throughput of 2010 is a very satisfactory result. The last quarter showed improvement, and gives us some hope that 2012 may start more strongly than we expected.
“But we are still cautious about 2012. The best efforts of our carriers, Hong Kong International Airport and Hactl can do little to counteract the continuing soft demand from China and Hong Kong into the world’s consumer markets. As such a major player in Hong Kong, handling 70% of the airport’s total traffic, our business is very closely linked to the fortunes of the industry as a whole. Until confidence returns particularly in the USA and Europe, we can expect further challenging times and fairly flat performance.”
She concludes: “This will not deter Hactl from its long-term growth strategy, underpinned by our continuing massive investment in the future of our business, such as the launch of our new
HKD240 million (USD31million / EUR22million / GBP19million) IT system, COSAC-Plus.”
Quelle: Hactl