Warehousing company Taiwan Allied Container Terminal Corp (台聯貨櫃) yesterday said that its pretax profit for the first quarter and cumulative revenue for the first five months of this year declined due to sluggish demand amid an intensifying US-China trade dispute.
The Keelung-based company, which provides space for dock companies or shipping firms to store their empty containers, said that cumulative revenue for the January-to-May period slipped 0.52 percent to NT$33.56 million (US$1.07 million).
Clients have shown signs of weaker demand so far this year, compared with the previous year, an official surnamed Chou (周) told the Taipei Times by telephone.
Unlike the previous years, many clients are hesitant to sign long-term contracts, which would guarantee fixed rental income for the next three to five years, Chou said.
“It is difficult to forecast or assess the impact of the trade war on the local warehousing industry, but with Taiwan’s exports and imports both contracting annually for the first five months, the decline in trade has affected our business,” Chou said.
For the first three months of the year, the company reported pretax profits of NT$6.341 million, down 8 percent from a year earlier, or earnings per share of NT$0.08.
Over the same period, revenue fell 1 percent, company data showed.
The company’s operating costs rose in the first quarter due to increased expenditure on maintaining its property and equipment, she said.
Despite declining profits and revenue in the first quarter, the company is still cautiously optimistic about the full-year outlook, Chou said.
Shareholders yesterday approved a proposal to distribute a cash dividend of NT$0.3 per common share, representing a payout ratio of 103 percent based on the company’s earnings per share of NT$0.29 last year.
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