5:20pm Friday 4th May 2012
Southampton docks owners ABP reported a 1.4 per cent rise in revenue at the city’s port, driven by a double digit rise in cruise passengers and an improving container terminal business.
ABP, which owns 21 ports, said its total annual revenue last year rose 3.3 per cent to £421m, although cargo volumes fell 2.8 per cent to 115m tonnes.
Pre-tax profit rose 10.6 per cent to £81.6m.
Deep-sea container volumes handled by DP World Southampton, which runs the container terminal in a partnership with ABP, increased by 1.5 per cent to 1.56m twenty foot equivalents (TEUs) in 2011.
ABP said it remained committed to ensuring Southampton remained one of the leading container ports in the country.
It is currently the second largest behind Felixstowe, and 16th in Europe, with plans for an £80m upgrade to accommodate more of the next generation of super-sized container ships this week finally getting Government approval.
ABP said the group was continuing to discuss plans for a fifth cruise terminal in Southampton and commercial agreements to secure investment were being concluded with potential customers. The port saw a 19.3 per cent rise in cruise passenger numbers in 2011 from 364 cruise calls, up from 301 calls in 2010.
Construction of a fourth multi-storey car park and additional storage is also under way in the Eastern Docks, costing £7.3m, to meet further growth in the export and import of vehicles in coming years.
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