|
HPH closes division, may lay off 50 staff
2009/4/3
Hutchison Port Holdings (HPH) is to shut down its worldwide Business Development Department, which will see around 50 staff made redundant, mostly in Hong Kong and the UK.
It is believed some staff could be offered alternative positions within the HPH terminals sector
According to one source, "redundancy notices to staff working for Hutchison is something, until now, relatively unheard of in the HPH business."
News of the closure of the department comes following a recent announcement by HPH that group member Terminales Internacionales de Ecuador will withdraw from the concession agreement to operate the Port of Manta in Ecuador.
HPH has also withdrawn a concession proposal at Thessaloniki, which effectively would have given the Hutchison group its first inroad into Greece, following closely on the heels of Cosco Pacific in Piraeus.
Last month, Hutchison Whampoa announced its 2008 financial figures that illustrated that as well as shipping lines, port and terminal operators are also finding it hard going in the present market downturn.
While Hutchison revenue was up 13 percent at US$44.9 billion in 2008 on 2007, profit attributable to shareholders was down 42 percent from $3.9 billion to $2.3 billion, mostly as a result of a downturn in the ports/terminal business sector
Total throughput at HPH terminals increased just two percent in 2008 on 2007, reaching 67.6 million TEUs while revenue grew four percent over the same period to reach $5.1 billion.
In the ports and related services sector, HWL reckons 2009 "is expected to be a more challenging year".
|
2009/4/3