| |
 |
|
|
2008 |
2007* |
| Revenue (Rm) |
2 552 |
2 164 |
| Total assets (Rm) |
3 248 |
2 694 |
| Attributable income (Rm) |
198 |
114 |
| Operating margin (%) |
9,7 |
8,4 |
| Number of employees |
|
|
| Subsidiaries |
3 399 |
3 561 |
| Joint ventures |
651 |
1 290 |
| Associates |
592 |
690 |
| Average number of ships operated on charter |
7 |
10 |
|
| |
| FINANCIAL AND OPERATIONAL OVERVIEW |
Freight Services reported improved results for the year. This occurred as
the business started to gain critical mass and benefit from economies of
scale as a result of the investment into and expansion of the various
operations, combined with the rationalisation of operations under focused
management teams, over the last few years. Attributable income increased
by 74% in 2008 on the back of increased revenues of 18% and operating
income of 36%.
Terminals and Intermodal in particular produced solid growth over the prior
year. Logistics also improved substantially on 2007, with the prior year
results containing a loss on the disposal of a discontinued operation.
Capital expenditure amounted to R513 million for the year (2007:
R577 million), which was focused primarily on the expansion of the drybulk
terminal facilities at Richards Bay and Maputo (R272 million in total). There
was also significant expansion of the logistics fleet, primarily in the dry and
liquid bulk transport sectors (R154 million).
Freight Services continues to pursue growth opportunities, by itself or via
strategic partnerships, through the expansion of existing operations, entry
into new markets by undertaking new developments, or through the
acquisition of strategic operations. To this end, capital expenditure of
R597 million has been authorised, of which R485 million is planned to be
spent in 2009 with the balance in 2010. R383 million of this has already
been contracted. Freight Services has sufficient cash reserves to fund
100% of the capital expenditure approved from its own resources. Third
party funding has, however, already been secured for R334 million of the
expenditure. |
| |
| Major capital expenditure projects include: |
| • |
expansion of the Maputo coal terminal export capacity from four million
to six million tonnes per annum at a total cost of R334 million, with
completion expected by the end of 2010. All of this additional capacity
has been contracted for on a 75% take-or-pay basis by customers;
and |
| • |
expansion of the Richards Bay bulk terminal export capacity by
1,2 million tonnes to 6,3 million tonnes per annum with completion
expected by the third quarter of 2010 at a total cost of R129 million. All
additional capacity has been contracted for on a 75% take-or-pay
basis by customers. |
|
|
|
|
| |
 |
|
| BEE |
| Subsequent to year-end, Freight Services concluded a BEE transaction
with Calulo Petrochemicals (Pty) Limited and Adopt-a-School Foundation
with the disposal of a 25% plus one share interest in Grindrod (South
Africa) (Pty) Limited. Additional information on this transaction
is included in the social performance report. |
| |
 |
| |
| DIVISIONAL OVERVIEWS |
| Ports and Terminals |
Grindrod Ports and Terminals comprises the group’s investment in port
concessions, which currently comprises the investment in the Maputo Port
Development Company (MPDC), and port side terminals within various
ports in the Southern African region.
The results of MPDC are equity accounted as Grindrod has an effective
24,7% interest in MPDC. |
|
|
2008
Rm |
2007
Rm |
Growth
% |
|
Comments |
| Revenue |
810 |
413 |
96 |
|
Growth in the terminals infrastructure and increased utilisation of existing
facilities. |
| EBITDA |
143 |
98 |
47 |
 |
| Operating income |
93 |
62 |
49 |
| Attributable income |
47 |
29 |
61 |
| Margin (%) |
11,5 |
15,1 |
(24) |
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
| Maputo Port Development Company |
MPDC has a concession to rehabilitate and operate the port of Maputo, in
partnership with international terminal operator Dubai Ports World (24,7%),
the Government of Mozambique (49,0%) and local partners (1,6%).
Volumes through the port increased to 7,5 million tonnes (2007: 6,7 million
tonnes) driven primarily by demand for ferroalloys and ferrochrome.
Throughput did come under pressure during the last quarter on the back
of decreased demand for resources globally.
Capacity restraints in the South African ports are expected to continue,
despite planned expansion of these facilities by Transnet, with new
capacity forecast to be taken up by an increase in commodity exports on
the recovery of commodity demand. The port of Maputo is therefore seen
as a key strategic port, being the closest geographically located port to
Gauteng and Limpopo to supplement capacity in the South African ports.
As a means of ensuring that the port is efficiently developed in the future,
a port master plan setting out the strategy for the future development of
the port will be completed in March 2009. The plan provides a framework
for berth and channel improvements, development of landside facilities and
a review of service corridors and other associated infrastructure.
The master plan at this stage covers the proposed development up to
2031. During this period cargo volumes through the port are projected to
increase to 48 million tonnes per annum, up from the 7,5 million tonnes
handled in 2008. |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
During 2008 Grindrod invested R272 million in the further expansion of its
terminal operations (2007: R249 million). A summary of the current terminal
capacities, including expected increases in terminal capacity from capital
projects approved for development, is presented in the table below.
Capacity in the various drybulk terminals is currently in the process of being
expanded by 136% to a total of 14,92 million tonnes per annum, with
5,53 million tonnes per annum of capacity scheduled to come on line in the
first quarter of 2009 and an additional 3,2 million tonnes per annum of
capacity to come on line at the end of 2010. Specific details of these
expansions are as follows: |
| • |
Capacity in Richards Bay is in the process of being increased to
6,4 million tonnes per annum, with hot commissioning scheduled for
March 2009, through the addition of 2,8 million tonnes of export and
0,6 million tonnes of import capacity per annum. Facilities comprise
open storage for 450 000 tonnes and covered storage of 220 000 m3.
All facilities, with the exception of one site specialising in the storage
and handling of small parcel sizes, connected via conveyor belt to
Transnet Port Terminal’s existing infrastructure. The additional export
capacity from this expansion has been contracted out to customers on
a 75% take-or-pay basis. |
| • |
Capacity at the coal and magnetite terminal at the Matola terminal in
the port of Maputo has been expanded by 2 million tonnes to 4 million
tonnes per annum. The additional export capacity from this expansion
has been contracted out to customers on a 75% take-or-pay basis. |
| • |
The expansion and modification of the Maydon Wharf import facilities
in Durban comprised the installation of a conveyor system for the
handling of bulk commodities, which was commissioned at the end of
the second quarter of 2008 and resulted in the addition of 400 000
tonnes of import capacity per annum. |
| • |
Handling capacity at Walvis Bay is being increased by 130 000 tonnes
per annum with the final elements of the expansion scheduled for
completion by the end of the first quarter of 2009. |
|
|
|
| |
| Terminal |
Utilisation
in2008 |
Current
capacity |
Planned capacity
|
| 2009 |
2010 |
| Drybulk – tonnes |
5 354 000 |
6 320 000 |
11 720 000 |
14 920 000 |
| Maputo |
1 574 000 |
2 000 000 |
4 000 000 |
6 000 000 |
| Richards Bay |
2 951 000 |
3 000 000 |
6 400 000 |
7 600 000 |
| Durban |
454 000 |
700 000 |
700 000 |
700 000 |
| Dar es Salaam (Tanzania) |
47 000 |
70 000 |
70 000 |
70 000 |
| Walvis Bay (Namibia) |
328 000 |
550 000 |
550 000 |
550 000 |
| Liquid bulk – m3 |
258 000 |
340 000 |
340 000 |
340 000 |
| Durban |
183 000 |
260 000 |
260 000 |
260 000 |
| Cape Town |
75 000 |
80 000 |
80 000 |
80 000 |
| Automotive – number of cars |
5 269 |
52 000 |
52 000 |
52 000 |
| Maputo |
5 269 |
52 000 |
52 000 |
52 000 |
|
