As shipping demand and traffic surged after the pandemic,  Chelsea Logistics and Infrastructure Holdings Corp. pared down its losses by 57 percent from P1 billion to P431 million in the first half of 2023.

"The Chelsea Group is on the right trajectory to profitability," disclosed President & CEO Chryss Alfonsus V. Damuy.

"We continue to activate and deploy our ships which has been laid-up for the past years," he explained.

They also keep on improving the four areas of their business, from Fleet Availability, Customer Experience, Operational Excellence to Technology Advancements.

The Chelsea Group generated a P188 million operating profit in the second quarter as it maintained its positive momentum during the year .

This was the first time the company has posted a quarterly operating profit since the fourth quarter 2019. 

EBITDA for the second quarter rose eight-fold year-on-year to hit ₱493 million.

On a cumulative basis, revenues were also up year-on-year, combined with a lower increase in cost of sales and services and other operating expenses.

This resulted in a substantial growth in gross profits as well as moving into positive territory with an operating profit of P164 million for the first half of the year. 

The EBITDA for the first half of 2023 grew 189 percent to ₱847 Million.

Revenues for the second quarter were up 10 percent year-on-year and nine percent quarter-on-quarter to ₱1.869 billion, the highest quarterly revenue posted since the March 2020 lockdown.

It was just eight percent less than the all-time high of ₱2.037 billion in revenues reported in the fourth quarter 2019. 

Both cargo and passage revenues maintained positive year-on-year and sequential growth, mainly driven by passage.

The passage segment continued to post strong revenue growth in second quarter 2023, increasing by 51 percent and 33 percent on a year-on-year and quarter-on-quarter base, respectively, to ₱540 Million. 

On a cumulative basis, the higher-margin passage revenues grew 83 percent to ₱947 million, accounting for 27 percent of total revenues, up from 17 percent in the same period last year and higher than the 21 percent reported in the first half 2019 before the lockdown.

On the other hand, freight remained the biggest contributor to the group’s topline, growing six percent year-on-year in the second quarter 2023 to ₱919 million, accounting for 50 percent of total revenues. 

For the first half of the year, the revenues of the freight segment grew by eight percent to ₱1.802 billion.

For the quarter, the group achieved a P188 million operating profit due to a continued increase in revenues as the economy continued to reopen.

They also posted six percent and 16 percent year-on-year declines in cost of sales and services and other operating expenses, in the wake of cost-cutting programs.

Mainly due to lower finance Costs, Chelsea brought down the second quarter 2023 net losses by 83 percent year-on-year to ₱106 Million, the lowest figure since first quarter 2019.

Overall, the 23 percent increase in the first half 2023 revenues was more than sufficient to offset the increases in cost of sales and services and other operating expenses.

Hence, the group registered a ₱164 million operating profit, a large swing from the ₱288 million loss reported during the same period last year.

Despite its improved financial results, "we remain vigilant and will continue to work harder to return to profitability at the soonest possible time,” pledged Chelsea CFO Ignacia S. Braga IV.