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Stevedoring Services Ltd. Announces Annual Results For Year Ending 31st March 2007
Hamilton, Bermuda, September 10, 2007 - Stevedoring Services Limited today announced that net earnings for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2007 were $327,546 (26 cents per share) down from $1,187,959 (95 cents per share) for the 2006 fiscal year. The company also announced a 50% reduction in the quarterly dividend to 5 cents per share. This situation is due to restructuring costs associated with the closure of the LCL (Less than Container Load) operations at the #7 Cargo Terminal along with increased costs of operations on the docks.
The reduction of the dividend is reflective of the additional costs that the Company is facing not only with the closure of the LCL operation but also additional expenses imposed on the Company in the Terminal Operators Agreement such as a Terminal Operators Licensing Fee along with other expenses for services previously provided by the Corporation of Hamilton.
Cargo volumes have increased barely 1% over the preceding year while expenses have continued to rise at an unprecedented rate. These additional expenses will require increase in rates to the shipping lines at some time in the future so as to not only return the Company to a level previously experienced in the past but also to allow for future investment in expensive equipment so necessary for efficient dock operations.
The closure of the LCL operation at the # 7 Cargo Terminal will take place in at the end of 2007. The closure will effectively mean that all cargo previously "stripped" on the docks will be transferred inland to facilities operated by the freight forwarders themselves or their appointed agents. Thus, the Hamilton docks will effectively become strictly a container port.
The closure of the # 7 Cargo Terminal will mark another important milestone in the history of the Hamilton docks and the way the docks will operate in the future.