Santos Brasil reports 16,9% growth in total number of handled containers in Q316

Santos Brasil reported a 16.9% growth in the total number of containers handled at its three terminals - Santos (São Paulo State), Imbituba (Santa Catarina State) and Vila do Conde (Pará State) - in the third quarter 2016, totaling 275,682 containers. Accumulated volume growth through September was 11.3%.

At Tecon Santos, South America´s largest and most efficient container terminal, 251,998 containers were handled in Q316, up 15.5% from the terminal´s handling figures in Q315 and a 10.4% increase in the accumulated volume for the year. Santos Brasil´s market share in the Port of Santos reached 39.5% (6.4 percentage points higher than in Q315).

Growth at Tecon Santos was partially due to the volume generated by two shipping services operating routes to South America¿s West coast and Africa, which began docking at the terminal at the end of 2015, and also to the increase in number of containers from shared navigation systems that dock at Tecon Santos. These services now include new ship owners in their composition.

At Tecon Vila do Conde, growth in total containers handled in Q316 was 50.9%, totaling 16,956 units. The increase was recorded in both long-haul and coasting navigation operations, resulting from navigation services that began operating routes to Europe and the Caribbean in January. Accumulated growth is 37.1%.

Tecon Imbituba showed a 3.6% growth in handled container volume in the period, driven by the increase in coasting navigation operations that accounted for 94.9% of the movements in the quarter.

Consolidated volume growth in Q316 was mainly recorded in long-haul import, export and transshipment operations, which increased 18.1%, 22.0% and 15.1%, respectively. Coasting navigation operations generated 23.2% of the total volume handled in the period, and transshipment accounted for 32.6%. The full-empty container mix remained stable compared to Q216. Full containers corresponded to 76.8% of the movement in this quarter.

As a result of the market share gain in Santos, the Company´s bonded warehousing operations in the Port Terminals segment grew 22.8%.

Santos Brasil´s consolidated net revenue was R$ 222.6 million in the third quarter. Year-to-date totaled R$ 622.1 million. In the period, the company showed a 5.4% reduction in the average cost per container handled/stored in the port terminals in comparison with what was recorded in the same period in the previous year. EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) adjusted for non-recurring effects was R$ 31.3 million, with a 14.1% margin.

Santos Brasil closed Q316 with cash balance of R$ 164.7 million and net debt of R$ 66.0 million, equivalent to 0.7x adjusted EBITDA of the last 12 months.