Global Ports Holding PLC (GPH)
Trading statement
11-March-2020 / 07:01 GMT/BST
Dissemination of a Regulatory Announcement that contains inside information
according to REGULATION (EU) No 596/2014 (MAR), transmitted by EQS Group.
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
Global Ports Holding Plc
Trading statement
Global Ports Holding Plc ("GPH" or "the Company"), the world's largest
independent cruise port operator, today announces a trading statement for
the year ending 31st December 2019, ahead of its full year preliminary
results on Thursday 26th March 2020, and provides an update regarding the
potential impact of the Covid-19 virus outbreak and the strategic review
process.
Covid-19 Impact
In recent weeks the spread of Covid-19 ("coronavirus") has had a significant
impact on the cruise industry, with a number of cruise calls cancelled in
Asia and Europe and several 2020 cruise itineraries in Asia also cancelled.
While this has caused disruption to cruise passengers and cruise lines, the
overall impact on GPH's operations has so far been minimal.
Overall our Commercial port operations have not experienced any meaningful
impact from the Covid-19 virus. Year to date at Port Akdeniz, our largest
commercial port, General & Bulk volumes are up strongly year-on-year. While
Container volumes, which include significant export volumes of blocked
marble to China, are tracking in line with management expectations year to
date. However, the marble mining industry has seen some disruption, with
industry events such as marble fairs being cancelled or postponed, and this
could negatively impact future volumes.
Looking ahead to the remainder of 2020, GPH has so far experienced an
increase in reservations at its Mediterranean ports as a result of the
repositioning of some cruise ships to the Mediterranean from Asia during the
Summer 2020 cruise season. However, this benefit is likely to be largely
offset by lower cruise ship occupancy rates in the short term and
particularly the potential negative impact of call cancellations as a result
of countries putting in place temporary travel restrictions. It is however,
important to note that historically the European ports in our consolidated
and managed portfolio of ports, receive less than 10% of annual passenger
volumes in Q1.
The board and management team remain alert to the fact that the situation is
still evolving, and the company continues to monitor the situation closely.
In light of this unprecedented level of disruption to global trade and the
cruise industry and the associated short term uncertainty, the Board of GPH
has decided that it is prudent and in the best interests of all stakeholders
to temporarily suspend the dividend for full year 2019, until the situation
becomes clearer.
A further update will be provided to the market if there is a meaningful
change to the situation or outlook. In the meantime, our port management
teams have prepared appropriate safety and precautionary measures and
continue to work closely with all stakeholders to minimise the risks.
Strategic Review
Following a competitive sales process conducted in the second half of 2019,
GPH has entered exclusive negotiations with a potential buyer of Port
Akdeniz. Although there can be no certainty as to the timing or that the
terms of a sale will be agreed. A further announcement will be made when it
is appropriate to do so.
2019 Trading Update
Group trading in the fourth quarter of 2019 was in line with management
expectations and for the year ending 31st December 2019, Global Ports
Holding expects to announce Revenue of $117.9m, Adjusted EBITDA of $77.0m,
cash and cash equivalents of $63.8m, Net Debt of $389.1m and Net Debt
excluding impact of IFRS 16 of $324.3m. Global Investment Holdings, our
majority shareholder has today released its full year results for the year
ended 31st December 2019, these results can be found at
www.globalyatirim.com.tr/en [1].
CONTACT
For investor and analyst For media enquiries:
enquiries:
Global Ports Holding, Investor Brunswick Group LLP
Relations
Martin Brown, Investor Azadeh Varzi and Imran Jina
Relations Director
Telephone: +44 (0) 7947 163 Telephone: +44 (0) 20 7404 5959
687
Email: Email: GPH@brunswickgroup.com
martinb@globalportsholding.com
ISIN: GB00BD2ZT390
Category Code: TST
TIDM: GPH
Sequence No.: 51671
EQS News ID: 994333
End of Announcement EQS News Service
1: https://eqs-cockpit.com/cgi-bin/fncls.ssp?fn=redirect&url=593d3d7b3d39ff5e052229547555e4d1&application_id=994333&site_id=vwd&application_name=news
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
March 11, 2020 03:01 ET (07:01 GMT)
© 2020 Dow Jones News
